The Will of Fire
by d'ihshtri
Summary: Genin teams 7, 8 and 10 have the test mission before the chuunin exams; this one journey will once and forever change Shikamaru's life... warning: slight OOC'ness, very slight AU and... dashes. New SUMMARY
1. Chapter 1

The Will of Fire

Summary:Yondaime. The HERO, who deafeated the Kyuubi in one night... But what about another hero, who has to fight that demon day after day, throughout the whole life...

Note: in this story, Sai is the third member of team 7, beside Sasuke and Sakura. Events will take place about a month before the exams. If there'd be any spoilers, you'll be notified.

-"Speech."

"Thoughts."

Prologue

Though it was the early morning, the wide corridor leading to the Hokage office was filled with noise. The steps, short and slow, the voices, high and low. The few were bathed in gentle morning light. The one, following behind the others, was without a doubt still sleeping. It was a miracle he hadn't stumbled even once while walking with eyes closed. His steps were forced, and body language screamed 'don't want to', but even so, he followed the others quietly. Hands in pockets, head falling he dreamed. In front of him, his friend was patiently going, woken up and ready for everything. His face was peaceful, smile in place, one hand with a bag, another inside of it. To the right was moving a ticking bomb. Eyes of anger, boredom, uncertainty, promise of pain and suffering, laid on the person to the left, and the person in front of the group. If those eyes were all seeing, they would also land on the person moving behind-so fortunately, they were not. On the front was walking a laid back object. It smelled of tobacco, and seemed to be waiting. The confidant steps betrayed the person's wariness. After what seemed like eternity, the four finally stood beside the doors. And after sound 'enter', calmly walked in. The room was already filled with people. Curiosity was dancing in the eyes of everybody. Two pairs of those immediately narrowed. The first and slated one belonged to Kiba, who expected some sort of competition, and had no doubt about his own skills. The little pup on his head loudly sniffed the air. The second pair, full black, belonged to the boy named Sasuke, who also set his mind on rivalry between the teams, was sure of his superiority and kept his arms crossed in indifference. They did not notice the subtle nod that was between their jounin teachers.

-"Everyone here. Good.''-All heads turned to the man beside the window. The smoke from his pipe was floating around him carefully, his posture was straight, though he was short in height, his wrinkles were clear in the light, and his tone was serious. He slowly sat behind the desk that was hidden under the number of scrolls and documents. -"Hmm.., team 7,8 and 10 have finished the required number of D-rank missions, team 8 has had completed one C-rank, and team 7 even one A-rank, though that was unintentional.'' The slated eyes narrowed even more and were burning meeting the famous smirk of an Uchiha, somewhere close was heard quiet 'troublesome', and many had a sentence in their mind 'what now?'

-"Teams 7 and 10 will be completing one C-rank escort mission, with possibility to turn into B and A. This will be the test of your skills as a ninja, the test of your responsibility, loyalty and.. teamwork.'' The aging Hokage deeply inhailed the smoke. Here the quiet girl, that was unseen in this room wanted to say something, but before she did, the man continued. -"Team 8 will accompany you on your way from Konoha, to the destination, as an example of the teamwork that should be displayed.''-Not hiding her pride Kurenai, the beautiful ice queen of Konoha, smiled down on her charges, while Kiba shouted 'hell yeah!' high in the air. -"Your jounin sensei's will explain the details of this mission. Your captain will be Hatake Kakashi.''

At this Kakashi slightly nodded, then said-"All right teams, you have thirty minutes, gather everything you'd need on the long term mission, and meet us at the gates.'' With that genins moved out, and jounins disappeared in the swirl of leaves.

The pink haired girl in red was running through the streets, her expression was one of thoughtfulness, her gaze unfocused in the moment. "I wonder how many people are we escorting... and how far...I hope it will not turn out as in Wave.''

At the gates the senseis were already waiting, discussing the meaning of the mission. Kakashi had his face in the book, Kurenai shifted uncomfortably.

-"I'm glad my team won't have to deal with this for too long.''

-"Don't worry, it will not be that bad!''-Asuma smiled widely, which looked creepy with the _single_ cigarette sticking out..

-"You're sure.''-_single_ eye looked up with hidden meaning, the orange book slid down a bit, opening the half of the face. The smile widened a bit more, and Asuma quickly and repeatedly nodded. Kurenai turned her gaze from Asuma to Kakashi with a _single_ raised brow-"Huh?''

Not knowing what her reaction would be, Kakashi simply eye'smiled with-"They'll survive! ...definitely..''

-"HUH?!''-sweatdrop..

Before she could investigate a bit deeper there was a commotion coming closer. Commotion that happened to be the members of 7th and 10th squad, it was like.. ''move away Inopig!!Sasuke's all mine!!!'' and like...''I'm a way more better for him, Forehead!!right, Sasuke-kun?'' and like... ''houph, tch, what a troublesome morning...(yeah, guess who's waking up)'' and like...'' oh, come on don't fight, why don't you just share as friends, I'm sure Sasuke-kun wouldn't mind threesome!" „WHAT!? (note: more than two voices)." And so the _Singles_ were condemned. Yeah, that will definitely be The Long trip...

* * *

Chapter 1. The Rules

Kakashi quietly sighed , and tried to hide his face behind the smut, while he inwardly thought „can't believe this..It must be the ultimate punishment. Kurenai-chan's just lucky, Inuzuka boy is the one who wants to be the leader, the one who cries louder and the one to get away with it alive.. Hyuuga girl's too shy to say anything on that matter, and Aburame won't waste his breath just to comment his teammate. Simple as that. While team 10 has one wannabe leader, Yamanaka, she has no brains to be one, and the rest-two boys and one jounin sensei, have their asses too damn lazy to follow her orders. That breaks them. And team 7.... (-„keep your mouth shut Sai!!"-„hmm? Did I say something wrong..?"-„hnn.."-Sasuke-kun do something!"-„Don't get me involved in this.") ...sigh.."

The group's tension was rising rapidly. Ready to kill each other, they finally stopped beside the teachers. Hinata spoke nervously -„A-ano.. where is our c-client, s-sensei..?" The rest of genins in surprise looked around, then at each other, and then at the adults.

Without letting go of his precious icha, Kakashi answered-„He's not here." –silence. Genins sweatdropped.-„We'll meet an hour from Konoha. While on the walk there, I will explain the rules of this mission. Let's go." More serious than usually, Sai voiced what was on the mind of everybody

-„ ..Rules..?"

They started to walk, with three members of 7th on the front, Kakashi behind them, three members of 10th to Kakashi's left with Asuma behind them, and 8th to Kakashi's right ,Kiba the closest. It was still early and they were not in a hurry, but group impatiently waited to hear details about the mission. Eyes of Kiba were sparkling with mirth –„Ne, who are we guarding Kakashi-sensei? I bet some super rich, super important and super old politician and his servants!"

Eye'smiling, Hatake almost broke his dreams. -„No. We will be escorting one person. Very important for Konoha and the land of Fire. The monk of the shrine of Forgiveness, and adviser of Hokage-sma, Naruto-sama."

Showing just a little bit of frustration, Sasuke hmph'ed-„three teams to protect one person, that's ridiculous." Unseen to him, the 'smart' people frowned. Shikamaru supported his head with his arms behind, and turned to Asuma-„..Monk..?"

Kakashi carefully turned the page-„Hai. We'll escort him to the shrine of Fire. Now, about the rules. For one, you are to control your emotions, especially the anger. It is important."

-„Huh? Why?"-Ino tried _not _to notice the strange man's hair style, and _not_ to pay attention to the fact that he had only one eye seen,(no fashion style, no symmetry) she failed." the man's unbelievable, how Forehead can stand him?"

-„Naruto-sama is very sensitive to people's chakra, that's why if you're angry, your chakra will be affected by it, and it may hurt him. So keep your negatives under control. Now two. Under no circumstances are you to touch him, unless he gives you permission.. though that's doubtful. Anyway, for three, show some respect. You're young, inexperienced and all, but remember that you are ninja, and you're on the mission, so act like this."

They walked for the rest of the time in silence, drown in their thoughts, not paying attention to surroundings of green trees much, when in the distance ,figures could be seen. Kakashi hesitantly put his book back in the pouch and hid his hands in pockets.-„Repeat the rules."-silence.

-„Kiba?"

Eyes of mentioned widened. He started to sweat under the pressure.-„Eeeh...um,...respect, don't touch and...um, chakra control?" Kurenai visibly sighed, they were supposed to be an example of team, and that was not a good start, but Shino lowered his head-„Emotions under control, Kiba." –„Eh, yeah right, that one." –he pointed with one finger, and grinned to lower the tension. Kakashi inwardly repeated „we'll survive, we'll survive, we'll survive.."

Getting closer the teams could see that figures were clad in black, and had different animal masks. There were four of them. The group stopped two meters away,and genins looked around questioningly. Kakashi nodded to black ops, and the anbu in cat mask stepped forward.-„Please wait here."The black clad person turned to the trees and left. At the meet point silence reined. While some trembled and shifted in this situation, Shikamaru tried to understand the mystery of the mission." the adults behavior is strange, the rules are strange, guarding the monk is strange, the presence of anbu is strange, I have a feeling the whole mission is going to be way _too _troublesome.."Choji didn't mind and kept increasing his weight. Sakura didn't know what anbu had in mind, so she smiled uncomfortably, Ino had her hands on the hips, and observed the path anbu-cat disappeared into. Asuma lit another cigarette, and stood patiently, and Kurenai discreetly observed the silent anbu. Shino was as stoic as ever, Hinata was trembling some, but didn't voice her concerns, while Kiba warily stroked Akamaru. Sai and Sasuke kept their eyes closed, but Sai had a creepy smile on his face, while Sasuke tried hard to keep his posture in indifference. Only after third lit cigarette did anbu-cat show up again. Behind her was a strange sight. All that was seen was the black cloak, long enough to cover the feet of the person, and the big hood that completely hid his face. His hands were connected on the front and hidden in the broad sleeves. There was a strange sound that was accompanying him, _tsk_,_tsk,tsk, _that sounded like a clock, or small stones falling. He slowly followed the anbu and stopped in front of the group, close to team 7. At this moment the imaginary red line appeared between them, indicating the height of the client. Or rather the lack of it.. Sasuke's brow twitched a few times "..you're kidding...is he that old..?"Sai simply had the eyes widened, and Sakura had a few dozen clues on that matter dancing in her mind. Kakashi waved his hand and smiled trying to look like he was in a good mood.

-„Morning, Naruto-sama, we're ready to go."

To this the hooded person only nodded. The anbu nodded too and disappeared in lightning speed ,leaving the new group in charge. Kakashi turned to team 8.-„Well, let's move on. Kurenai-san, your team will move in front of the group, team 7 and 10 will follow."

* * *

The red eyed woman walked behind her students with worry. It was not only because they were sweating with fear, but because they haven't spoke yet. They were fifteen meters ahead of the group, using their tracking abilities to make sure they will be prepared to face any enemy that might show up. But they will not be able to complete the mission if they will be constantly scared.

Looking at his white pup, Inuzuka gulped soundly.-„Who the hell is that, sensei? Akamaru says this guy is dangerous..He's not the monk, right?" Kurenai could only sigh and lower her head.

-„My kikaichu inform me that they are afraid of his very presence."

Hinata deactivated her doujutsu and looked down.-„I've n-never, s-seen so much chakra b-before..E-even Hokage-sama.. doesn't have that m-much.."

-„Don't worry. Though his power may scare you, Naruto-san will not hurt you."-seeing that her words had no visible effect, Kurenai tried to change their way of thinking.-„Look at it this way, if there's anyone who should be scared, it's the enemy. You can feel safe, knowing that this power will not be directed at you."- She smiled, seeing that they were relieved.

-„Demo, if he's that strong, why he needs protection..?"-the question was followed with nods from Shino and Hinata.

-„I'm not sure I have a right to answer Kiba. You may talk to Kakashi-san about this later, after all, he's our captain on this mission, and knows more about a client anyway."

_Tsk,tsk,...tsk,...tsk.._With his smut back in place, Kakashi walked beside the client, giggling from time to time. To his right was Sakura, who's eyebrow twitched with every _tsk,_ and Sai, who's smile now was forced to extreme and shaking ,matching his pointed temple, together with Sasuke he walked to the left of the client, where Sasuke already had the advanced tick in his left eye, it was getting worse with every minute, and he will probably have the heart attack exactly after an hour. Guess what, girls last longer... „...must resist the urge to act, must be stronger than this, I'm a ninja, ninja damnit!..." „...what the hell is this sound?! It gets me all riled up shannaro!!" As if by unspoken command, Sakura and Sasuke looked at each others expressions, then at the person in the middle, and even though they were protected by Sai and Kakashi in between them, it didn't help them and their nerve system. _tsk,..tsk,..tsk,tsk_..

-„munch, munch....crunch..."-looking at Choji, acting as if nothing much was happening, Shikamaru relaxed himself. "..maybe I'm just exaggerating..he's probably more important than it looks..right, he said..."

-„Um.., Asuma-sensei, Kakashi-sensei said that this man's Hokage advisor..does it mean that he's the member of the council..?" –hearing Shikamaru asking, Ino and Choji got interested too. And not seeing a way out of this, their teacher gave up. He took out the cigarette and exhaled the smoke.

-„No. It doesn't." –after a few minutes of waiting for their sensei to continue, their faces fell.

-„You're not going to talk, are you."-the blonde narrowed her eyes pointedly.

-„Well, for now, just bear with it. Treat it as a serious mission, all right."

-„Rules, respect, anbu,I feel like we're protecting a Hokage, not the advisor. And what kind of the advisor a monk to the military leader anyway..?"-Shikamaru frowned even deeper.

-„You're too smart for your own good, you know that? I don't know if it's right to tell you now, but you'd probably figure it out sooner or later...sigh..Ever heard about the Jinjuuriki of Konoha?" –hearing this, Choji stopped eating, Ino gasped, and Shikamaru raised a brow.

-„U-huh, ..isn't it a made up story? Um, ..about a monster that Konoha ninja keep locked up in the shrine..?"

-„It's called rumors, Shikamaru. Don't believe in it.I won't tell you more, just to make sure i don't say too much. And, for that matter, I'm out of date, so Kakashi knows better."-relieved, Choji was back to eating, Shikamaru slightly shrugged, and Ino turned thoughtful.

-„I don't get it, I thought it was about some spirit protecting the whole land of Fire or something.."

After she said that, Shikamaru's eyes impossibly widened, and his thought process asked for restart. Thinking about it again, and gathering all the facts and rumors in one file, he quickly came to a conclusion, though it took him a few more seconds to form it, he knew he realized something that he possibly shouldn't.. „...it is..."

Asuma thoughtfully watched the back of the cloaked figure, remembering the past

_Flashback 10 years ago_

_He stepped into the dark room. The only source of light were two candles in the corner. Two flames danced unsteadily, forming strange shadows on the walls. There was no window, and of furniture, only the table in the corner, with candles on. In the room were two shinobi. One stood leaning with the back to the wall, had his arms crossed, and face hidden behind the anbu mask. There was nothing as a sign to who that might be, and this had to be like this. The second, sat beside him on the floor with his legs crossed. One hand on his knee, another covering the face. Head down, this one tried to hide his emotions, but could not to. His sorrow and hopelessness could be felt and seen. The ends of his white long hair touched the floor, and his not so young form was shaking. His clothes not that of a ninja had no color in the gloom. There, in the far darkest corner, was another form, far smaller than the rest, and hidden in some sort of grey blanket. The form was trembling, and the crying was clearly heard, the cry of the child. Though the white haired man did not sound like it, he was crying too. He could not hide the tear, that slid down his chin, and fell on the floor. Anbu turned his face to the door and nodded, then he pushed himself slightly from the wall, and put his hand on the shoulder of the sitting man..._

_End of flashback _

his eyes had the sad look, so he closed them.

_Tsk,tsk,tsk,tsk_ Sasuke's knuckles were white, Sakura's fists were ready, Sai was _not_ smiling. Their teacher knew and saw what was going on, but he believed they will live, or get over it eventually.. Sai wanted to avoid the war, so he decided that some distraction was in order.

-„So, Naruto-san, why are you heading to the shrine of Fire?"-he smiled broadly and closed his eyes as he trained to, believing that he did wonders. The black figure continued to walk in it's pace, not changing it's posture. –„To pray." –surprise was written all on the face of the raven Uchiha. He almost stumbled in his step hearing the voice of the monk, smooth, soft, quiet and... high? „....I was sure he was just old, but this is not that...he's actually young, maybe even younger than us, that's why he's so small... ...the monk? the Hokage advisor?...who are you trying to fool, Kakashi, that's an absurd!..." The similar thoughts had the girl in the team, and team's artist kept his surprise under control. Suddenly, the figure spoke again, in the same quiet tone.

-„Kakashi, change places with team 10 please."-the jounin nodded and closed his book. He turned behind and gave the sign to team10 to move over. Then he turned to his squad

–„Team, we move behind."

Asuma and his students after a few moments were in place of team 7,they looked behind at their friends, and then at the client. Not knowing how to react, Ino asked-„What's going on sensei."

-„One point goes to our team Ino, one taken from 7th." –here Asuma grinned happily. His students sweatdropped.

Looking back at the change in formation, Kiba frowned not understanding the situation.-„Why did they do this, eh?" Akamaru barked few times in agreement. Ever all knowing Shino answered his hotheaded teammate-„Team 7 did not pass the first test, as it seems." –Kiba looked at him, then back at 7th, and satisfied, grinned and nodded.

The sun was high in the sky, the road was still wide and dry, the trees on both sides of the path were still thick, and it probably won't change as they will be moving only on the territory of the Fire country. Yep, the landscape quickly became too boring to admire. But if just for a slight moment, that was about to change. Team 8 unexpectantly stopped, well Kiba did, and the rest followed. The rest of the group cautiously walked closer and stood behind. The dogboy sniffed the air suspiciously.-"What can you tell, Kiba."-Kurenai looked around preparing to face the enemy and fight, though she was surprised anything will happen still this close to the village. Kiba sniffed a bit more and the growl was heard from his pup-"Ne, I don't know, this scent is kind of familiar, but can't place it…Though, I can tell I don't like it."-already in her gentle fighting stance, Hinata activated her bloodline,-"A…ano.."-A bit of wind blowing by later, from the right side of their vision and from within the thickness of flora, the small and known to everybody object appeared, it fearlessly looked behind, and moved to the left side of their vision, disappearing from their sight in the same fashion. Having his face out of smut at that moment, one-eyed jounin commented-"Hmm…I'm glad Tora cat's not black…would have to change the route and that's really unnecessary.."-Not even a minute later, the three different kids came into scene, the first, with the scarf too long for his own safety, was shouting –"…need, to..save, Tora-chan!" –they were a moment later hidden in the trees. Just as they disappeared, again from the right side the flora moved, to reveal the person in furry, some juunin with a scar on his nose, that was panting heavily, without a word yet, he, along with the escort group noticed a small green blur, that quickly passed him, he ran farther in the same direction and disappeared too. From the right side of the scene again, could be heard the loud and clear

–"Yosh Lee!You'll be the FIRST to catch that unyouthful animal!!! Show them the power of your FLAMES OF YOUTH!!! I have FAITH in you my BOY!!"-that was followed by appearance of another green but bigger blur that has stopped in the middle of the road and the escort group's vision. The green object took what he believed was the 'cool guy' pose with the thumb directed in the sky, while his unnaturally white teeth had an unnatural glister. Being the witness of it, the monk mumbled –"…I was convinced it was only a nightmare…guess it must be the real thing…"-and suddenly, not a moment later, from the left side and from the above of the tops of the trees and the 'bigger green blur' figure, appeared the big version of juunins head, with madness sparkling in those eyes, it started to shout animatedly –"SHUT UP MIGHTO-SAN!!Don't encourage your student with that FLAME OF WHATEVER!!"-the eyes turned red and saliva flowed from the mouth-"I have to catch MY students first dammit!!!"-the second later the head was gone, and the 'bigger green blur' blurred out of vision in the left direction. Not knowing if it was over yet, the escort group waited. And they were not disappointed. Slowly and quietly from the right side walked out two people, one with hands behind her two buns'ed head, relaxed and smiling, and the second with his hands falling, face long, every step forced.-"Ne, Neji, I think we have the day off! Let's go eat something ,my charge!" –not even looking at the girl's happy face, the tired boy seemed to continue to suffer, but the answer actually was there,-"…agree…" –as unbelievable as it was, non of the 'cat pursuers' have noticed the presence of travelers. The group could only sweatdrop profusely.

-"..Munch…munch….munch…." _tsk….tsk…..tsk…..tsk…._ It was of no surprise that team 10 had less of a problem being around their client. After all, Asuma is always inhales and exhales, Shikamaru sighs and plays shogi, the sound he heard now was familiar to the sound of wood figures touching the desk, Choji rarely stops chewing, and Ino talks the most, they had to get used to each others habits, so the sound from their client wasn't anything new to them. Standing to the right of the black clad figure, Ino looked sideways and asked curiously

–"Ho-ou-uh..?What is this sound, Naruto-san..?"

-"…prayer beads.." –unseen to his students, the small smile appeared on the jounin's face. He walked close to Ino, and not giving any signs of it, waited for his students reaction, and observed their behavior, knowing that was a test not only for them as the ninja, but also for him as the teacher. After hearing the voice of the client, the genin had similar reactions, surprise on different level. Choji just shrugged a moment later, Ino stopped herself from reacting with a great deal of strength, she did remind herself the rule number 1,and from the look on her face, it was easy to tell she made a promise for herself to investigate it, after all, it's not everyday you see the kid that is more important to your country than you. _..tsk…tsk…_The lazy boy's eyes filled with deep sadness, he softly smiled though and replied –"Hmm.., it's relaxing… what are they made of..?"

-"..corals.."

End of 1 chapter


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here is the second chap, hope you like it. I almost forgot to say I don't own Naruto or any Naruto characters. But I do own the plot.

-"Speech."

"Thoughts."

Chapter 2 Pray for my soul

It was slowly getting darker, it wasn't the evening yet, but it sure felt like it. The air became somewhat colder, the nature itself was now quieter, and travelers, after the whole day of walking, were tired now. Deciding to make a camp in the woods, not in the middle of the road, they chose the area with old and high trees. Where separating in groups, they gathered the dry wood for fire, the water, and had their supplies for dinner. Beside that, they had hot tea with different something, Asuma with cigarettes and game of shogi with Shika, Choji as always with chips, Ino and Sakura with bickering around Sasuke, Kakashi with orange smut, Sai with the brush, Shino talking to the bug, Kurenai with Hinata gossiping (sort of) with sweets, Kiba with his dog ,and the monk with berries. About two hundred feet away from them, the eyes were watching, calculating. The follower observed the group memorizing each member. He had a smirk on his face, and narrowed his eyes behind the glasses. "So, what Mizuki said is correct. The Jinjuuriki of Konoha had left his shrine for the first time..I wonder, who else will he sell this information to…?Anyway, Orochimaru-sama will be pleased to hear this." The follower turned and stepped deeper into the shadows of the night, to reach his master and inform him about the recent events.

The darkness was overwhelming, the feeling of power was scary. The growling was getting more sinister, and louder. There were appearing the flashes of creature, it's red and mad eyes, it's tails in the deadly dance, it's canines, it's smile..-**"…Ningen…You will burn alive.. I will tear your soul APART! …You will break eventually…and I'll devour your very being…"** He woke up. In front of him crouched one eyed jounin, his look's one of concern –"You all right…"-the birds were singing, the sun rays filled the area, and warmed the juicy grass, the early morning was calm and embracing, the air fresh and warm, but the feeling of uneasiness was here with him, inside, and he knew that he will need all of his strength, in the fight…_tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk,.._The time was not on his side, and he had a lot to do around, he could not afford a break. Kakashi carefully observed the black clad figure under the tree. He was patient, but even for him it was hard to ignore the fear that was creeping slowly under his skin.

-"…Let's take a shortcut."

The jounin only nodded, and turned to the tracking team. Kurenai caught his disturbed gaze.

-"We have to take a shortcut."-hearing this, Asuma, who stood under the sun to the side, raised an eyebrow and started to touch his vest with his palms, then opening pockets one after another and checking the contents. Kiba turned to Kakashi and the client-"If you want to get there faster, we can move by the trees."-Kakashi smiled and scratched his head, -"Yeah you're right…"

-"Found it!!"- was shouted happily. Asuma unfolded the paper and concentrated. From behind Kurenai and Kakashi appeared. Together, the singles traced the lines on the map, looking for the best way of traveling. Above them, the smoke of tobacco formed into questions…After two minutes, they started bickering. Kakashi tried to remind his comrades that he was their captain, Kurenai repeated she was working with trackers and knew how to read the maps, while Asuma put the argument of him being the one who was in the shrine of Fire ( never mind the fact it was years ago…once.) Their students watched the scene unfold with growing embarrassment. Sakura even had her face in her palm in hopelessness. What stopped them, was the dark aura that was rising around the client. Five eyes met the black object and jounins visibly paled and shivered.-"…Would you stop this already..?We will go the way Kurenai suggested."

(and 1 point goes to… team 8!)

Ten minutes later they were jumping from branch to branch, well, ninja did, the monk seemed to fly from one to another…(what with the way he kept his arms and hands close in front of him and his feet were unseen, hidden somewhere in the folds of the cloak…-creepy). They traveled in that fashion for the four hours, genins inwardly asking if their client had a ninja training. They stopped in the small clearing to rest. What surprised most of them, was the fact of miracle that Kakashi-pervert kept his book out of hands. But for Asuma it was the view for worry, if Kakashi had to put his precious away to be fully on guard, it must be a sign, a bad sign. The monk sat under a tree, his breathing though quiet, was heavy. Not too far opposite from him, Shikamaru sat cross-legged, and looked to be meditating. And a few steps away Choji stood curiously observing his friend "…that's something new… usually Shikamaru would lie watching the sky, not meditating in the middle of the day…" No one noticed, but Shino kept away from the group. Not talking to anyone, and staying as far as he logically could. Once they were ready to go, they took the formation again, and were surprised that they had to walk again. Young ninja observed with suspicion the way their client moved. Every step he took seemed to have a strain behind it. And it was strange to see such a drastic change in the matter of the few hours. Exchanging the curious looks they kept quiet.

* * *

The boy with white skin, Sai, held a book in his hand; he walked on the side of the group, and quietly drew on the page with black pencil. Even if his face did not show it, he was intrigued by the hooded person, and greatly inspired. His hands were reaching for the brush or the pencil every time they stopped to have a break. And it was the third picture already. In the first the monk walked the road alone; it showed him in the calmness and humility. In the second his head was turned to the figure that could be easily identified as the smoking jounin. It seemed that the monk was speaking to him, but the message will stay the mystery. In this one, the third, he sat in the shadow under a tree, and even though his whole body was hidden, it was easy to tell he was praying, and he wanted to be alone. The way he kept his legs and hands close to him, spoke of the inner struggle. Sai knew the reason behind it. After all, he was informed of everything that might happen on this mission. But his first priority was to protect Uchiha Sasuke, under the cover of being his teammate, and inform his leader of anything that might happen to his charge. That was his main mission. The rest was only after.

While Sai was getting lost in his thoughts, Sasuke used his somewhat analytic skills to understand the goal of their assignment. He was sure their client had the ninja training. And he was convinced the kid was just playing the role of some sort of monk that they were supposed to protect. It must be the test of their skills, right? If they will follow the rules and orders, they will pass this test. The Hokage probably had to be sure that rookies were ready for the juunin exam. So he gave them the made up mission, the jounins prepared the made up story, they chose some talented in act academy student and even possibly arranged the attack somewhere along the way… Sasuke smirked "…Well, if it's just a test, it's best to show what we can do."

"…**So stubborn…"**

The monk suddenly stopped. The sound of beads tapping got faster. The whole group stood and waited. Before anyone could ask if everything was alright, Kakashi raised his hand preventing them from taking any action. His eye lay on the black figure. After a few long and stressing moments, gulping and seeming to relax a bit, the monk made a step forward. Asuma let out a breath he was holding. He reached into the pocket for cigarette. And slowly, the group started to walk again. The genin were hesitant speaking out loud. In the back of the group now, Ino and Sakura started whispering. Surprised at what was happening, Sai intently watched the client and jounins forgetting for a moment about an almost finished picture, and when the book lowered Sasuke, who was walking close to him, could catch the glimpse of the last page. Somehow it unnerved him, and he deeply frowned. Not taking eyes off the client, Sai put his book in the bag.

"**You think it will be easier? Closer to the God, maybe…? Pathetic human…"**

The black clad monk stopped and fell to his knees. His breathing got faster, and heavy. Kakashi reached for a kunai, and gave a silent sign for students to step away. Asuma gave a sign to his students to join team 8 that was farther, and slowly took a hold of his knifes.

"Pathetic may I be… But you're still in there, right?" the sentence followed a minute of silence.

"**I will never admit a defeat. Go on and pray for your soul, little worm, I will make sure you suffer, the pain will be so unbearable you won't even have the ability to beg."**

Kurenai watched with wide eyes as jounins took a stance. She barely registered Choji asking why Akamaru was whining, and Ino rousing indignation about the teachers' behavior. She came to her senses only when she saw and felt chakra so sinister, it caused her instincts screaming to run.

Sharingan activated, Sasuke tried to convince himself he fell for a genjutsu. But it was too real, and he noticed that along with his teammates he was on his knees, shaking in fear. Sakura was so shocked she couldn't breathe. Her wide eyes were on the red flames that she absently realized were chakra.

"…Forgive me if I disappoint you…God let this burden to be put on me, I treat it as a mission to complete. Don't bother threatening… and scaring me, demon, as long as I live you are condemned for the prison… of my body."

As quickly as it came, the red essence disappeared. Ninja were breathing again, and jounins slowly put their weapons away, relief unhidden on their faces.

While he would not admit it out loud, Kakashi inwardly thought "I hate this job." He watched as the monk slowly, almost painfully reached the tree and sat leaning on the base. Knowing that it will take time before they will be on the way, one eyed jounin leaned on the nearby tree. He slid down slowly, and sat too.

-"We're taking a break."-he announced. The students didn't hear him, nor did they come any closer. They were busy in waking the fainted body of a Hyuuga, and reaching the shock stated minds of a Haruno and Akimichi. He considered reading his smut, but decided against it. He won't have a mind to read even a few lines. Oh, how he regretted having this mission. It's not because of the danger that was a client himself. Wait, it is. No, not like that… "…I can't protect someone I know I might have to kill at any moment…No, I can. The reason I can't now is because I consider this person special to me. Yes. It's because he's special…"

-"Are you alright, Asuma?"-he looked up, and saw the concerned face of the woman who slowly stole his dreams, thoughts, and heart. Well, she didn't know of it. Not yet.

-"I can live with it. Thanks. Though, I think, Kakashi can't."

She noticed that the hand holding a cigarette shook. "Men may try to seem strong, but we all have limits. And he's right. Hatake has more trouble with that than he seems to put on."

Kakashi's one visible eye turned dull. His mind wondered to the past, when he for the first, and what he believed until recently, the last time took the job of protecting the young Jinjuuriki.

_Flashback_ _5 years ago_

_He was patrolling the area, per usually, at 3:00, 5:00 and 6:00; it was his night shift, along with his partner, the Mouse. He would walk around the shrine and keep his eye open. If there were no intruders, and usually there was no one stupid enough to get close to this place without invitation, he would go back inside and guard the boy there. He would pray, as he could, honor the memory of those that left the world of living but were still alive in his heart, and forgive. At least try to. It was hard for him to believe in evil having a good side. But he was asked to try. And try he did. He managed to forgive a few people, and to understand some of them. But he never got close to forgiving himself. _

_He planned on going tonight as usually, but it was not to happen. He didn't hear the voice in the back of his mind; he had no special feeling, no 6'Th sense or anything stupid like this. It was simple coincidence that he was back inside the prayer hall fifteen minutes earlier than usually. It was raining yesterday, and the air was humid and cold. He didn't want to get sick, so seeing as everything was in order; he just shrugged this part of duty off, and went back._

_What he saw was still fresh in his memory. By the gold Buddha statue near the far wall of the wide dark hall, his partner, comrade was holding the edge of his short anbu sword by the neck of the small, covered in dark blue fabric, form. _

_-"You think that you can hold back the demon forever?! Don't be naïve! A human being has no chance against the Lord of demons!! Y-you have to be killed. It is the only way to stop the monster…"_

_The hand holding the sword was shaking. Kakashi knew he had to do something, quickly, quietly, before his comrade dared to kill the innocent child. He reached for his Dog mask and headband to open his left eye, when he heard the young voice._

_-"You're wrong, Goukoji."_

_The Mouse stopped shaking, but he stopped breathing. His captain, his teammates, even his partner, Inu, never heard his true name. How is this possible for him to know that?_

_-"If you kill me now, the chakra of the demon will not be contained. Explosion that will follow my death would destroy the whole Konoha village."_

_The attacker responded only after the moment of contemplation –"You're lying."_

_-"He's not lying." _

_The Mouse turned in surprise to face the speaker, but once he did, he fell on the floor, unconscious. Kakashi slowly stepped to the scene and crouched by his, now ex-partner. He covered his left eye and glanced with his right at the child._

_-"How do you know his name?"_

_-"You were not surprised when I knew yours."_

_-"I thought that Hokage-sama told you."_

_-"He didn't."- Silent pause._

_-"Hmmm, very interesting."_

_-"Don't worry about it."_

_8 months later_

_He was running. He was in a hurry. He was scared. He knew what might happen. He didn't pay attention to anything around him, only the path in front of him. The path of shadows and the smell of bitter. The forest seemed to mock him and ask him if he was late. He tried to calm himself down and found it hard to breathe. The darkness of the night wasn't different from before, but somehow, his heart filled with sorrow. When he reached the hall and stepped inside, his heart filled with anger. _

_-"…stupid…stupid. Why!"_

_The crying he heard broke his heart. He felt hopeless again. What could he do? He didn't know._

_-"…why…why betray me? I… hic, I told him what… to do…So stupid…"_

_Kakashi stepped closer to the shaking form. He saw the beads hanging, not tapping; and the marks of teardrops on the cloak. The flames of red were slowly rising, but the boy didn't seem to notice._

_-"Naruto-san."_

_-"W-why? Haven't I…"_

_-"Please control the demon chakra."_

_-"He's so… stupid…"_

_He didn't know what got over him, but his hand on itself touched the handle, and before he realized it, the blade was under the chin, which was barely seen under the hood. His hand was not shaking; it firmly held the right of taking the life away._

_-"Take control over the demon's chakra Naruto-san, please."_

_-"Kakashi…?"-the crying suddenly stopped. The head of the boy slowly rose. Kakashi didn't see the face, or maybe he did see the part of it, but refused to remember. The memory of that moment was so painful he tried to erase it, and now the whole picture was unclear. But he did remember the sound of beads and the forced deep breathing. He remembered how his blade slowly lowered, and how unable to stand on his shaking legs, he fell on his knees. How he was whispering._

_-"Forgive me…please forgive me…"_

_-"You did well."_

_-"N-no I, I dared to raise my sword Naruto-sama"._

_-"I forgive you… now forgive yourself, and put away this sama thing…"_

_-"I…I can't."-the head of the covered boy shifted to the side. It looked like he was thinking, and considering what was said._

_-"Sigh, you can, you just don't want to."_

_-"Yes. Don't want to."_

_End of flashback_

Back by the road, finding that they were still resting and waiting, he blinked several times."I hate this job."

Members of team 8 were slowly gathering themselves. Kurenai refused to answer their questions. Akamaru refused to leave the safe place behind his partner's jacket. Shino refused to speak to anyone. He was ashamed of his inability to control his fear. The blonde girl was holding her hand on her chest, repeating that she 'probably would prefer to faint like Hinata to avoid being the witness of the strange scene'. Her chubby teammate lost any appetite and was throwing the quiet and worried glances to the client. Shikamaru was shaking and his half-shocked state of mind was keeping his thoughts chaotic. He almost jumped when someone's hand touched his shoulder. Looking up he saw his teacher. He smiled down on him reassuringly and raising his gaze on two teams, addressed them.

-"You have to be strong. Keep yourselves calm and collected, it will help him."

With team 7, raven boys stood stoically opposite from each other, their gazes directed down on the ground. Where with no signs of life lay their teammate. They stood like this for awhile. And waited. It's not because they tried to convince themselves they didn't have to do anything, and not because they tried to remember what must be done in situation like that. Well, not officially. They just believed she will wake up at any moment. Without any help. When for another minute or so nothing happened, some action was required. Sai took a deep breath.

-"Shouldn't we, do something?"- On his face a smile plastered. Another minute passed.

-"Hnnn. You may try to save her life. Try some artificial respiration. Or use your imagination."

Sai sweatdropped at this.-"Well, wouldn't she want it be your doing, Sasuke-kun? You know, with her dreams and all…"

The look on Sasuke's face was telling he considered it. It was too soon followed by a clear disgust.

-"I'm not doing this."

Fortunately before Sai was condemned to do what he would want to avoid doing, Kakashi stepped onto the scene. He was tired and tried to hide behind the relaxed posture, his hands were in pockets and his expression neutral. He lowered his upper body over her in what looked like the mock concern, and then he nodded all knowingly. Without moving up he said loudly.

-"Sasuke is in danger Sakura! Save him!"-all too soon was heard the screaming and the last member of their squad was confirmed to be alive. The one eyed jounin straightened and appeared to be smiling. Disappointed, Sasuke inwardly thought "I hoped she will not wake up and we would leave her here. Guess not all the dreams have a chance of coming true…"

-"Kakashi-sensei."-The jounin carefully glanced at Sasuke.-"I think it would be proper now to tell us the truth."

-"The truth."-Kakashi dumbly repeated.

-"Yes, the truth about this mission."

-"You were never lied about it."- The jounin deadpanned.-"It's just that there are things you're not ready to know about."-He left it at this and paid no mind to their angry, disappointed, surprised and hurt expressions. In his mind, even now when they have become ninja, they are still kids, if they kill, if they get stronger and become juunin, and then even jounin, they will still be kids, too young to face the truths and cruelty of fate as adults.

After a short and very slow walk in direction of the shrine, they stopped again for the night. Most of them didn't sleep at all, still stressed and on guard. Some of them didn't let their head touch the ground. Like Kakashi, who pretended to read, but didn't turn any page at all, because in reality was lost in his memories. Like Sai, who knew that staring is impolite but continued to stare at the monk. Like Asuma, who opted to sit and relax, and be ready in case action started. Like Shino, who was lost in his theories and analysis. And most of them had their eyes open. They didn't want to sleep. Even now, when to all of them the sound of tapping prayer beads was so calming and relaxing, the trip to the world of dreams to them was denied.

* * *

In Konoha, where the color of the night was just as dark, villagers were peacefully sleeping. Ninja working at nightshift were satisfied with the silence. And nature on itself seemed to promise to behave properly. In Hokage office, unsurprisingly the light was on, and by the old desk the aging man was reading and writing. He frowned here and there, and sometimes sighed. He didn't bother to look up when the window quietly opened, and his perverted student stepped inside. They didn't speak to even greet each other, both too tired to do so. The white haired man with two red stripes going down his cheeks pulled a scroll out of his inner pocket. He put it on the desk for an old man to see, and stepped back to the window. There he stopped and gathered his breath to speak.

-"I think I'll take a little break for now."-Sarutobi raised his gaze and after a moment subtly nodded in sign of agreement.

-"Where do you plan on heading?"

-"You know where. Don't worry."

Taking another nod as a farewell, he disappeared in the shadows. The aging man raised his hands and rubbed his wrinkled face. He loudly sighed and sank deeper in his chair. Then he turned his sad look at the faces on the wall. He wished he could hear them. But now in his office only dead silence reined.

* * *

-"I' m so sorry for my team's behavior. It's so inappropriate."-Kurenai was almost depressed about the scene. Asuma, walking by her left side, was shaking his cigarette in hopes it was still in use. The rain fortunately took care of his habit, but unfortunately took care of their dryness too.

-"It's actually a good thing, you know? This way they will feel better."

Behind them from afar was heard the loud shouting, barking, shrieking and other sounds of beating, bickering, fighting and using of some jutsus. The students started it with occasional insult and argument that through the morning turned into something more serious. Unable to stop the thing, their teachers decided to protect their client from the negative stuff and suggested the genin to solve their problems in the distance. The rain that started with early morning hasn't ceased yet, and it only made the overall mood darker. In front of them, Kakashi walked in step with the cloaked boy very slowly, and it seemed the weather synchronized with the mood of those two. Kakashi turned behind a bit.

-"How long will it take now?"

Asuma nodded a few times.-"Let me check the map."-He took it out and opened. When he frowned Kurenai pointed at the fragment with a finger. He gently smiled and nodded again, and then he spoke.

-"There should be a bridge above some precipice in front of us. I'd say it may take us one, or two days to reach the shrine after that."

One eyed jounin nodded and turned his gaze back on the road. To his left, the smaller figure spoke.

-"There is no bridge."

Eye' smiling, Kakashi replied. -"If that's the case, then we'll think of something."

Unseen to the world, under the hood a small smile formed. –"Let the genin do it. After all, it's their fault."

-"All right."-Kakashi continued to smile.

Back with the genin. Ino and Sakura, best friends, greatest enemies, the fight on kunai didn't seem to help them any, only worsen the situation, Shikamaru tried to stop them from hurting each other using his shadows, but he could not stop the rest from fighting, even Shino and Hinata teamed up against Sai and his ink crows because he kept unconsciously insulting them and their abilities. Inuzuka was using his family techniques to prove his superiority to the Uchiha, laughed at the use of the fire techniques in the rain, and though clumsy, he skillfully dodged the projectile weapons. Choji was busy taking away weapons from the still girls, so he could not physically stop Sai or Kiba from attacking, and Shikamaru's shouts and threats did absolutely nothing. Their behavior was worse than that of kids, and it could not finish well.

Kakashi kept his gaze on the road, and after some time, in front of them could be seen a change in the picture, they were getting closer to that precipice. From that distance, the bridge could already be seen, it was swinging in the wind and under the pressure of raindrops, it was extremely old, had shortage in desks and looked fragile. The shouting from behind was getting louder, and suddenly, Uchiha boy passed them and threw a few shuriken at someone or something behind them. Then was heard a loud 'bastard' and 'gaatsuga', after which two swirling objects targeted the black haired boy, and when he dodged, the swirls continued to move farther, to finally hit the old bridge, break through it, fall into the abyss, and let the remains of the old thing to follow them down. Kakashi sighed defeated, and the monk said.

-"Told you so."

End of chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the new chapter. For those who may be confused about a) in the end of a 2nd chapter a 'gaatsuga' was a technique used by Kiba and Akamaru. First Akamaru marks the opponent with urine, then he and Kiba turn into two tornados and attack using their sense of smell. b) the rating of a fic, it is what it is cause I don't want people who are too young to read some scenes that will be in this story in the future. Yeah, I care about your mentality and well being...

All right, on with the story!

Chapter 3. The tears of shame

The noise of the rain seemed to get louder for a moment in the ears. The grey blur it created clouded the vision. The sound of something hitting the ground far below was terrific. The deep red eyes that were witnessing the scene were wide in shock and fear. Kurenai was frozen in place, believing her student was gone in the dark abyss. It all happened in a matter of seconds, so she hasn't noticed that along with him and the remains of the bridge the black forms disappeared down there. She realized it when a moment later Inuzuka and his partner were raised in the air, held by the claws of the black crows. The birds let them go above the ground, where they landed softly and faced not in the least troubled Kakashi and the monk, while the creatures turned into the ink that splashed over Kiba and his pup, joining the rain. The spectators were silent, they didn't comment the new looks nor did they grace the whole scene with reaction. Kiba, now obviously calm and collected, or, to be correct, shocked enough to forget about the fight, started to slowly shake himself to let the ink wash off. His pup was more enthusiastic, and was jumping and shaking and swirling splashing the paint all around. His teammates came closer after a minute to help him, though quiet because of the shock, they were relieved he was safe and alive. Other genin stopped the fight and the members of team 7 were observing Sasuke, who had the best view to the close-to-be tragedy. He was unfocused but before anyone started to worry he gathered himself and took the 'I' m fine' pose. It didn't help anyway, he looked horrible. His hair, wet and sticky now were making him look like a female, while his clothes were covered in a mud and the dirt, it looked especially bad on his shorts, because their first, white color now was non existent, well, lets say they didn't suit his nobility.

Sai relaxed seeing that his job was well done. After all, he could not let the Uchiha be responsible for a death of the comrade. He flinched and turned behind when someone touched his arm. There was the Inuzuka kid; he was surprisingly shy about something…

-"Um…I, wanted to thank you, for saving my life."-He said, scratching the back of his head in uneasiness.

The white skinned artist was confused at first, then he smiled strangely, this smile was not ugly, nor was this the real smile, but it was different, maybe it was closer to a real thing this time, and a bit confused, but not willing to offend the boy, he politely replied-"You are welcome."

* * *

The group stood uncomfortably under the trees. They were wet, and wanted to move to warm up some, but now that the road was no more, the students were confused as to what to do. The weather was cruel to them, taking away the comfort and the mood. The genin curiously observed as a bit farther, the jounin teachers discussed some important matter, probably about finding a new way to the shrine. It was suspicious when they turned to talk to a monk, who was near them. The strange fact was, they did not have a map in their hands, so now the whole thing was even more suspicious.

Asuma knew Kakashi was right about the new task for the students. The only thing he was not sure of was the event that took place not even half an hour ago. They could kill each other before they develop any kind of teamwork. This was risky.

-"But sooner or later they will have to work together. We have to make sure they can do this NOW when we can supervise the situation, not later, when they will get in trouble and their stubbornness will kill them."

Kurenai was reluctant to the idea, but after hearing another argument from the copy ninja, she was ready to agree.-"Let them do this. You are right, better now then later."

Kakashi nodded and turned his gaze on the Asuma, who carefully smoked under a tree, keeping his eyes up; to see if any drop was insane enough to put out his precious. Feeling a glare on his person he turned to Kakashi, who having his arms crossed was daring him to disagree. Believing that he's genially smart he said

-"I will agree to this if Naruto-san does."

Eye' smiling brightly the copy ninja said-"Well, this was his idea in the first place."

Asuma sighed. Then he looked to the side at the genin. They expectantly stared back. The jounin now all were looking at kids, meeting their stares with glares. Taking the role of the captain Kakashi walked to the rookie gathering and uncrossed his arms to put his hands in pockets in relaxed gesture. He waited a bit to teach them patience.

-"Listen closely. You will take a small break now, so rest and eat some. Don't make it take you longer than half an hour. Then you will train, in teamwork, as the group. Your goal is to use your abilities in the best way you can to rebuild the bridge. Remember to work together. Make a plan first; choose the safest, the fastest and the most effective way to do the job. You may use techniques and all you find helpful. Understood?"-Hearing 'yes', Kakashi nodded and went back.

While others were eating and talking about the strange task they were given, Shikamaru was looking around trying to find anything useful for creating a bridge. He realized that he didn't know that much about the skills of other teams, and that alone he has no chance of arranging anything. "But with the best analytic minds of our group it could be faster and easier…" He waited for his chosen comrades to rest a little bit more, unwillingly listening to Ino reminding team 7 that they had a mission involving a bridge builder, so that they are more experienced about the job. He also noticed that rain was now slower and weaker. If they're lucky, the sun will grace them with its warmth and light today. He frowned not seeing any pretty clouds above, so he turned disappointed and saw one of his advisors-to-be finishing the meal.

-"Hey, Shino. Can we talk?"-The boy hidden behind a coat and sunglasses raised his head and imperceptibly nodded, standing up and coming closer to the tree where Shikamaru stood by the base. Then Shikamaru turned to the girls that were clinging to Sasuke, he decided to skip the "waiting for the right moment" part and loudly called.

-"Sakura, join us for a minute please."-The girl was confused and as she would call it "busy" but curiosity won and after a sigh she hesitantly stepped closer and asked what was up.

-"We have to form a plan. Make a strategy taking in consideration the abilities of our teammates. It has to be simple, no building thinking, we're ninja, let's work like it."

Sakura immediately started to think. She knew they didn't have much material to work with, so it had to be _extremely_ simple. –"We need the material for desks to walk on, and for ropes to hold on to."

The rest of genin and jounin watched the "organization gathering" with curiosity picked. At that moment team 10 got one more point thanks to Shikamaru, who was the first to start the right thing. But at the same time, some of the other students were hurt they were not chosen to be a part of the strategy making. Like Kiba, who thought that he's as good as his quiet teammate. Like Sasuke, who thought that having a good memory is not the best and only way for a victory. The rest of genin stepped closer and now were making a circle around the smart people.

-"I can use the colony of mine to make the desks from the wood, though probably, it will cost me all the chakra I' am in possession of. Also, I believe we should use Hinata's sight to start the bridge in the right place."-At Shino's speech the rest nodded. Shikamaru stroked his chin thoughtfully and spoke.

-"With their physical strength Choji and Kiba could place the tree-trunks where Hinata shows."

-"We can bind the desks with wires. I know Sasuke-kun has them in stock."-Here the rest sweatdropped at Sakura's knowledge.-"And the birds Sai draws can take Choji or Kiba to the other side to place and tie up the tree-trunks."

Shikamaru blinked and thanked the God he wasn't the one to fly. He noticed that Choji and Kiba were shivering, he then nodded smiling uneasily and added.-"Then what we have left are railings. Any ideas? I doubt that wires will be comfortable."-Everyone started looking around and checking their pouches in search for something suitable. That is, until the shy Hinata voiced her thoughts.

-"A-ano…I think, we c-could use the b-bandages."-That was all needed for imagination of some to start working. Inuzuka boy and the smoker started to form the dreams in their minds of Kurenai offering her bandages for railings. Yeah, all of them…

-"Good. All right Shino, you can start with the desks, Choji, you and Kiba go with Hinata and mark the places for the tree-trunks. Sai, you will rest and later we'll use your ink birds, some big bird would be a good and safe idea…Cough, um, anyway, Ino please gather the bandages from everyone and ask Kurenai-sensei if we could use hers too. And Sakura, you can count how many bandages and ninja wires we have."-That said, realizing they had nothing better to do, everyone did as was told.

The work started, Sai drew a few big hawks and leaned against a tree. The rain stopped, his scrolls and ink were safe. He noticed the monk on the opposite side sitting under a tree unmoving, as if he was sleeping. Sai thought about the pictures he made of this person. He himself rarely had any emotion at all, but now he was face to face with emotion so strong he fought it with all his might. The curiosity. He looked around for a while, trying to pay attention to the other things, but his eyes were looking back again in that direction. So to somehow satisfy his strange needs, he stood up and made a few steps in the direction of the black clad person. It was a shock to him that now it was even harder to stop himself. He remembered, remembered the rules but his mind started to look for the way to satisfy himself and still abide by those rules. Another step. Sakura turned away from Sasuke and caught a sight of Sai moving slowly, suspiciously and quietly to the client. She wasn't the only one to notice. Another step. His legs were now shaking. Shino and Sasuke raised a brow. Another step. One more and he could reach the person with his hand easily. Ino, Choji and Kiba turned their heads to the side a bit. The last step. Kurenai and Shikamaru frowned at the scene. Sai was now fully trembling. He raised his right shaking hand. Kakashi's eye widened. Asuma's cigarette fell from his mouth. Everyone thought "No, he's not going to…." And "No way! He's actually got guts!!!" The hand raised a bit higher now and he could grab the hood and lift it. The drops of sweat were sliding down his face, even his fingers were sweating. He licked his dry lips in anticipation. The whole rest of the group had their jaws hit the ground. Well, except Hinata, her _body _hit the ground; she fainted from the stress… They thought "Finally!!We get to see his face!!!" Sai let his fingertips brush against a fabric. And right at that same moment something small and green, or maybe orange landed on the shaking hand. It something raised its small left foot and waved in greeting.

-"Naruto-sama, Yo!"

It was silent for a long moment. If those jaws could, they would dig underground. In unspeakable, unimaginable, unbelievable shock Sai didn't control his reflexes and jumped far back shrieking like a girl. He was silent after a few seconds, when his back hit the base of a tree and he fell unconscious. The small green or orange something landed with a somersault on the ground in front of the monk. And it turned out to be a frog. No, a toad actually. It received a few glares from spectators, a few confused looks, and a few frowns. Jaws were picked and placed were they belong, accompanied with sighs, and everyone was working again, some of genin asking if the animal really spoke.

Slowly, the rays of sunlight reached the surface of the treetops and the earth. The toad after a minute of silence got serious and lowered a bit its tiny head.

-"You're not feeling well, are you?"

-"…could be better…"

Shy for a moment, the animal looked to the side and shifted.

-"Um, ero-raia asked me to watch over you."- Here the toad looked up expectantly. Its skin was shining now and the small creature seemed almost innocent. Unable to really refuse, be mad or indifferent the monk quietly sighed before saying.

-"Fine."-The toad started smiling from left side of the head to the right and was now jumping in some family dance in front of the boy.

* * *

Already on the other side, tying up the desk-path to the trunks, Kiba was getting impatient. They got to work three hours ago, and still haven't finished. The whole job was becoming the pain in the ass now, not saying it seemed pointless from the very beginning.

-"Hurry up people! Come on! I don't want to spend here the rest of the week!!"

On the other side where the rest of the group still was, the few mumbled the similar thing "Look who's talking, first breaking the damned thing, now ordering us around to hurry up and fix it…" Girls, Shikamaru and Sai were busy wrapping the bandages over the wires, ignoring the glares that Uchiha boy was sparing them (he didn't have even one left now). They were done quickly and started binding them to the trunks on their side of the precipice. The jounin were studying the 'bridge' with sweatdrops, inwardly doubting the quality. And before they could blink, their students were gathered in one place (thanks to Sai and his drawings). They surprisingly had a look on their faces that said "Go on sensei, try it. We worked so hard!" Unsurprisingly they didn't try their work themselves. Maybe they were mad, and wanted to punish the teachers? The singles doubly sweatdropped. They wanted to avoid the fate and looked around for a scapegoat, someone reasonable for a job. Their eyes landed purposely on the small dog. Wisely getting what was this about, Akamaru whined and hid behind his partner. Asuma closed his eyes and prayed "We can always use shunshin the body flicker. Better run away from that thing now before it's too late…"_tsk, tsk, tsk… _On the side of the group the hooded figure appeared, he stepped closer to Kakashi and quietly spoke.

-"What are you waiting for? Go and check it."-The jounin's face fell and after a shock in place of a one eyed jounin there was a chibi Kakashi crying and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like 'let's send Sakura!' while a chibi Sakura was hitting his head in rage. Giving up Kakashi smirked, and created a clone. He ordered him to be the first to cross the thread of life and death. And when nothing bad happened (even if they wished it did), one by one they reached the other side and continued on their trip. They noticed not long after that, that their client was walking slower with every hour, and it was worrying them, especially when the tapping of beads was getting faster.

* * *

He knew that today was special, no; he _believed_ it was special, because today, he would finally make it. Prove it. Because it was extremely early in the morning, he had the advantage. The element of a surprise. He crawled along the quiet corridor, staying close to the wall. Then he was almost there, by the doors, of the room for assignments, still closed in this hour. But he knew that people were already inside. He moved closer and prepared the attack, but hearing some voices, he stopped to eavesdrop. Knowing that this could be something interesting and worth for blackmail, he placed his eye on the level with the lock and observed. He saw the back of a tall person in green, with orange warmers around the calves. The person was stoic and calm, and was listening to his grandfather.

-"…just unusual for you, Guy. But I' m glad that you want them to be ready."-The green clad man nodded.

-"Yes. I also heard that my eternal rival wants to put his team too."

The old man exhaled the white smoke and smiled sadly, causing his wrinkles to get deeper.

-"It depends. First, all the rookies must pass the test. Only then, will they have a chance."

-"Ah, I see. Well, I have faith in them, so they better not give up!"-With this he took a pose and the room seemed to glow even brighter, as if the sun was giving a sign of agreement.

Getting lost in his thoughts about the new puzzle, the boy didn't react when the door opened. Instead of stepping out of the way, he stumbled upon his scarf and caused the first morning mess.

* * *

The morning was welcoming, warming, and they were already on the way. The traces of the rain disappeared, and they knew that soon the trip will be over. They would relax and smile, gossip or rest, but they didn't feel safe. They had to be on guard. Very slowly, they walked down the road. Team 8 was somewhere on the front of the formation, team10 in the middle and 7 a little behind. The genin now thought that their client was dying, probably sick with something terrible that forced him to wear that cloak, he often stopped now and it looked like every step was painful to him. Every time they thought that someone should carry him, they remembered that no one was allowed to touch him. Not hearing comments from their teachers they kept their thoughts inside.

Pain, so much pain and fire. It's so hot and burning inside, and it's so cold and freezing on the surface. Hard to concentrate, keep the track of mind. Body's not listening, and the outside world seems to be so far, beyond the reach. Any sound now is just the ruckus, some noise with no meaning. The vision is spinning, it hurts to think and look for a difference between up and down, between before and now. The heartbeat's too fast. Is this a reality, or an illusion?

Sasuke watched the strange person. The monk was on his knees for two minutes now, covered in the thin layer of red dancing flames, and didn't respond when the smoker called to him. He observed as his sensei was on guard, without his book, having hands ready to reach for the weapon.

-"You know, you still haven't explained why you are ready to kill him. We know it has something to do with that chakra."-Sasuke said, and also noticed how Kakashi flinched, hearing the first sentence. After what seemed like eternity he realized he will not get the answers, he just complained.-"This way we'll have to walk for days."-His sensei again simply ignored him, and walked forward to team 10, to be close in case anything happens.

The small toad was sitting in front of the boy; it waited patiently for any sign of him feeling worse, or better. The genin were standing several steps away, behind the jounin. Shikamaru was skillfully hiding his shock and fear. He listened to the hard breathing of the small person. He watched as his head was almost touching the earth, because in pain his body twisted almost forming the bow. Inside, he felt as if his heart was in pain, as if it wanted to stop. His hands and feet were cold, as if his blood refused to run.

-"Damn it, we have to do something."-Asuma whispered to his fellow jounin and frowned deeper. The drop of sweat slid down Kakashi's brow. He held a kunai and watched carefully, waiting in faith for the flames to cease back. Seeing him undecided Asuma inhaled deeply and moved a foot to make a step, when from behind him, Shikamaru calmly walked forward and stopped in front of the monk. He sat on his knees and bowed deeply, touching the ground with his forehead.

-"Please let me carry you Naruto-san. My emotions and chakra will be neutral. I promise."-The figure didn't give any sign, still breathing hard and twisting, Asuma exhaled and made a step.-"Please."

Shikamaru looked up. The cloaked person shifted, and somehow, the Nara boy knew that he was given permission, and that he had to keep his promise. He didn't think about it for too long, he gathered himself mentally and nodded. Asuma watched shocked as his student calmly turned his back to the monk, carefully lifted his hands and put them on his shoulders, then lifted his legs and stood up. He mentally ordered his heart, mind, and soul to shut up. He felt that person was hot, even burning, but he told himself it was the sun warming his back from above. He looked in front of him determined and started to walk, the small animal following him behind. He forced his eyes to see only the road, and he forced his ears to hear only the wind. Kakashi looked down, and then he placed his kunai back in the pouch. He turned to his students and gave them the sign to follow him after the in-stupor three members of team 10. There was something telling him it should be him, determined, helpful and trustworthy. But he knew he cannot fight against his fears. In his mind, he saw himself weak. And he didn't see the way out of it.

It seemed like hours. Like eternity. He felt as if he was swimming. The water didn't have a weight, and it took away his. He paid no mind to the quiet crying on his shoulder. He paid no mind to the hands and body squeezing; and paid no mind to tears falling, his tears. It was just water around him. The waves. The breeze.

Team 8 was on pins and needles. Like no one else they felt the evil, saw it, smelled it. Thanks to Shikamaru the trip got faster, and they knew that soon they will reach the destination. They already saw it. The shrine, drown in the rays of light. Now they were even more impatient. Those two hundred meters were the longest in the trip, and the most tiring. When they finally reached the steps leading to the entrance, the wide doors opened with a creak. From the inside, two bald monks in orange robes walked out and looked at the visitors. Then they looked farther at the coming group. Their eyes widened, and when Shikamaru walked up the grey stairs, they stepped aside, and at the doors appeared another monk, he was older than these two, but also wore an orange robe, he was serious and only cast a look of understanding at his old friend, Asuma, before he nodded to the boy and asked him to follow to the prayer hall.

The genin gulped, and waited. Ten minutes later Shikamaru came back, alone. He slowly crossed the entrance and stood. He was shaking, and crying. His teammates were worried but didn't know what to do. His teacher walked closer and put his hands on his shoulders.

-"You're strong Shikamaru. Very strong."

-"W-what…?"-His sobs were loud and face pale.

-"You know, before you there was only one person to ever get a permission from Naruto-san to touch him. You can feel honored."-Shikamaru leaned his wet face on the vest of the jounin.

-"H-honored? I' m d-disgusted…"-Asuma frowned.-"With myself… I' m… such a weakling…"

-"What are you talking about, I don't think…"

-"I' m nothing! ...sob, I' m… wasting my life… while t-thanks to him… I' m breathing…"-Asuma's eyes widened, he grimaced in sorrow, and then looked up at the clean blue sky and embraced his student warmly while a single tear slid down his face. Choji and Ino got closer and wrapped their arms around him too, trying to calm and comfort him.

Watching the scene confused, Inuzuka boy quietly mumbled –"That's enough, let's get outta here."-His partner barked in agreement. Kurenai put a hand on his shoulder.

-"It's impolite, Kiba. We will stay for the night."-Surprisingly she got the response from Shino, who shifted uneasily.

-"Sensei."-He readjusted his glasses.-"You do realize we won't have the ability here to rest."

Kurenai sighed. Deep in her mind, Hinata struggled with herself "They don't want to stay here… Kiba-kun and Shino-kun don't feel well…I can't ask them to stay, it's not fair. But I want to stay so much…Naruto-sama is so incredible. I' m so intrigued, but I have no right to speak to him…Or maybe…no, no, no." Before she decided, the teacher asked them to wait, and stepped beside the captain.

-"Kiba and Shino want to leave."-The single eye turned to her telling to continue.-"Their senses are strong, they feel and smell power, anger, hatred and darkness. They fear it. Sigh. Um, look, our mission completed, we won't trouble you or the shrine…"

-"You may go."-She stopped, surprised.-"It's all right, I understand."

Team 8 said 'goodbye' and left. They didn't smile or joke. Only wished luck for the rest, and promised to check the bridge one more time.

End of 3 Chapter

People, tell me what you think! It would be good to know that I do it in a right way...


	4. Chapter 4

The next chapter. Wanted to put it earlier, but couldn't...

Um, anyway, I wanted to say Special thanks to the CelticReaper, for keeping my spirits 'alive'.

So, here you go, have fun.

-"Speech."

"Thoughts."

Chapter 4. The dim waters

She couldn't sleep. It seemed that if she closes her eyes, she will have only nightmares. The darkness of the room didn't help it. She looked to the side at her roommate, her friend, despite what anyone would think. The pink color of hair now was reddish in a gloom, strangely, it usually was shining brightly in the moonlight, so somehow, today, no, tonight, it was different. She realized why she felt insecure. It was too quiet. She was used to the noise, the sounds of nature, of streets, towns, and sounds from her teammates, this was just new. She didn't even hear Sakura's breathing. The only thing indicating that she _was _somewhere was the humming, but it was so far and unclear she doubted it was the real thing, probably only her imagination… Yesterday they entered the shrine, and were given the spare rooms. Hers was with Forehead, as they were the only girls of the group. Asuma-sensei had a room with Choji and Shikamaru, Kakashi-sensei with Sasuke-kun and Sai. They saw only few orange clad monks, and were told that almost all of them were in a hall, though only the one eyed and the smoker entered there. After the short dinner, they unpacked and went to sleep. Now that it was late in the night, and completely dark, the whole shrine seemed to her too big, too quiet, and too gloomy. So unable to lie and keep quiet, Ino stood up and decided to find something to do. She put on a long shirt over her night dress, her sandals, and lighted the candle, that she found earlier on the shelf. Slowly opening the door, she entered the corridor, and glanced at the rooms nearby, where the rest of the group should rest. Deciding to follow her instincts, she walked to the right, and listened to the strange humming. Passing a few other corridors, and two rather small halls, not encountering anybody, she found herself before the double doors that had the ornamented frame. Forcing her hearing, she noticed that besides the humming, from the inside were coming the sounds of whispers. Her mind started to create the strange pictures of rituals, and magic. Curiosity picked, she touched the handle. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she pushed a little, using a bit of strength. Then through a small space, she looked inside, and frowned. There, in a biggest hall she's ever seen, at least a hundred and fifty monks were placed in lines, praying, on their knees. Most of them were in orange and white robes, with red, green, and brown beads. And all of them were bald. Around them, along the walls were candles, so many of them the hall was lit as if it was the time of a day. By the every wall, were the shining statues of Buddhism and objects of Shinto religion. In the air was the soft smoke and smell from incenses, which gave the room somewhat mystic atmosphere. Farther in the depth of this gathering she noticed their client, he still didn't feel well, but was praying with the rest, watching closer she realized that _all _of them were praying _for _him, around him. Beside him was the one eyed jounin, who, like the rest, had his palms put together and was whispering and mumbling. This was the first time she ever saw anything like this, and to her, it was incredible. "So beautiful…" And before she had a chance to try and hear what they were whispering, from the left corner of the hall she noticed her own sensei coming. He calmly opened a door a bit more, and when she took a step back, he walked outside, closed it behind him, and faced her.

-"What are you doing here."-The statement caused her to feel that maybe she shouldn't have seen it. Shouldn't have opened the door. She let her gaze land on the floor.

-"I couldn't sleep. So I decided to take a walk."-He nodded closing his eyes.

-"Well, go back to your room and try to get some sleep ok, don't walk around this late and alone."-She nodded, and now held the candle in both of her hands.

-"Alright, goodnight."-Without looking up at him, she turned around and left the way she came.

Later somewhere in Konoha.

-"Are you CRAZY?! It's six in the morning! No SANE person will train this early, you WEIRDO!!!"

The green beast (as it calls itself) was really unaffected by the statement, and simply was smiling widely, while its smaller version appeared from nowhere.

-"NO WORRIES, Konohamaru-kun! We will MAKE SURE you'll get used to it!!!"-After that the bigger beast added.

-"That's RIGHT! After all, you DO want to be THE strongest person in Konoha, right?"

-"YES!"-Here, could be seen the cool pose from the 'honorable grandson', so easy to change his mind with promises of power, he-he, already his worries disappeared, for some reasonable time. The smaller version of the beast without hesitation picked up the small boy and put him on its shoulder, speeding up in the direction of the training grounds, getting the excited shouts from the boy.

-"YAHOO!!!"

* * *

Graced with the warm morning of the land of Fire, the four figures traveled the thin road through the green, completely new to them thicket. They didn't speak to each other, and strangely, didn't show emotions. The tallest, the man in the same light brown cloak as his companions, had his hair and a half of his face covered with the white fabric, his gaze stern. In front of him, were two fully opposite to each other individuals, one with a bandaged thing on his back, with the head covered in black material that created two somewhat cat ears, and another with a big folded fan, having, probably unlike the rest, the blond hair in the four short tails. They followed the smallest figure of their group, the red haired boy that had a big and probably very heavy gourd on his back. His eyes were fearless, dreamless and cruel. They also had a fire dancing in them, indicating without hiding the excitement and anticipation. His lips twisted in some sort of a smile, but it was heartless, rather, the sign of a madness. Feeling something strange in the air, the _aura_ around the boy, his companions warily glanced in his direction, and quietly gulped. They felt the shiver run up their spines when they heard the laugh, it scared them, because they didn't know who, or what caused it. The red haired boy spoke to himself.

-"I can feel it…Yes, soon…"

* * *

The sun was unusually persistent today. The clouds and the wind, as it looked like, took the day off. So it was hot, bright and overall uncomfortable. The girls tried to use their hands to create some wind on their faces, the boys stood or sat on the steps. The genin waited at the entrance of the shrine of fire, for their teachers to appear.

Sasuke, now in black shorts, noticed that if this goes on, the color of his skin will be irregular… Then he noticed that along with the sensei of the 7th squad, that Asuma guy was late too. "They didn't tell us for how long we will have to stay here. So while we're here, it's good to train. Especially with the exams so close." He thought of what he should learn and train in the meantime, when in front of him a big, and probably very heavy, bag landed loudly. Looking up and to the side he saw identical bags by the girls, the 10th squad boys, and two identical monks that stood not too far from them. Seeing as no one wished to speak, he harshly broke the silence with a glare.

-"What's _this_."

-"It is rice."-Said someone from behind him. He turned around and saw the monk from yesterday. He was smiling, and his eyes were peaceful.

-"I' m sorry for being rude yesterday, I should have introduced myself. Being in a hurry is no good. My name is Chiriku, and I' m the priest of the shrine, glad to meet you."-The children looked at him skeptically. Then they looked at the bags. Choji, without a sign of confusion, untied the one that was close to him and his lazy (though now behaving strangely reserved) friend. Inside _was_ the rice actually. He looked up at the man and smiled.

-"So what's this rice for, Chiriku-san?"

The man's smile widened and he stepped down to stand in front of the genin.

-"Tonight we prayed for the peace of Naruto-sama's soul, and the prayer to Kanzeon and Inari was the most benefit. To thank the Gods for their benevolence, you, as was decided by your teachers (here he pointed at the smoker and the pervert that appeared by the doors), will hand out this rice in the nearby village. The twins Ken'ka and Suguri will accompany you."

With that said he turned and left back into the building. By the doors, the smoker smiled and followed his example. The pervert mocked them with the salute and mumbling something like 'have fun!' eye smiled and disappeared. The genin had their eyes, brows or cheeks twitching. "What kind of sensei treats his students like that…?!" The bald young twins put the heavy bag on their shoulders, they laughed at the faces of children and one of them said.

-"Don't waste the time, guys. Let's go, just follow us."

Seeing as the girls had trouble even lifting the bag, Sai surprisingly stepped closer and offered to pair up with Sakura, as she's his teammate, 'though weak, teammate still she is', and after a hard hit on his head, she agreed, and Choji paired up with Ino, leaving this way Shikamaru with Sasuke.

It was unbelievable, incredible, and definitely unusual… It's not everyday that you see two identical bald boys in ridiculous orange robes dancing a non-dance in the middle of the street shouting and singing about gratuitous rice for everyone.

-"The rice free of charge! For everyone! In the name of the great Kanzeon, the great Fukujoju Nyorai and the great Inari! Take as much as you want!"

And it looked like it wasn't the first time. After about fifteen minutes, people were coming with bags and bottles as if it was normal for every day, nothing special. Confused, the genin were in shock when people were smiling and thanking the twins for coming, even asking what the reason was this time. The people didn't trust the grim and confused genin, so the monks had to help them to encourage the villagers, and unsurprisingly, Choji was doing just fine, his kind nature and the warm smile made people trust him, while the scowling Uchiha boy was _avoided_ like a plague. Well, the genin had a good laugh when Shikamaru commented on it –"You're a monster, Sasuke, the good and innocent people of this small village are scared of you, look…" All in all they managed to 'get rid of the load', and went back to the shrine, where after a dinner prepared by the monks, their sensei told them to run around the building _fifty_ times. The kids had one _more_ reason to think that teachers were the sadistic merciless bastards.

* * *

That evening Asuma separated his team from the group and took them to the surrounding forest. He had a few ideas and was curious as well. He believed in his team and wanted to prove that they deserved to enter the exam. His students were watching him carefully, searching for a reason for him to be grinning and have a glint in his eyes. They stood in line when he stopped and turned to them to make a decision. After a moment and a few nods to himself, he spoke.

-"You will train as a gathering information squad."-A bit nervous, genin looked at each other and then slowly nodded. Asuma exhaled and decided it was the time to drop the bomb.

-"I want you to spy on team 7."-Dumbstruck.-"Yes, I know that they're your friends, comrades, classmates, and you probably respect and fear Hatake. Yes, I know you know them, but your mission is to now know about them _everything_, and I _mean_ everything. Their habits, their likes and dislikes, lies, secrets, thoughts, past, dreams, hopes and fears. And what's more important, they absolutely should not know of this, or notice."-Choji got back to eating, but inwardly was thinking and trying to understand why should they do this.

-"Why them?"-The frown on the face of the Nara boy was something new; he rarely cared in a way to show it on the surface.-"Why not the villagers we met today or the monks of the shrine, or Naruto-san, our client?"-After he finished speaking, the look he received from his teacher, cold, daring, disapproving and _distrusting _scared him, and hurt. It was just a second, a moment, but it was there, and he regretted noticing it.

-"Because they are ninja."-He looked in the eyes of his charges, one after another.-"Because they are your friends, comrades and one of them is your superior."-He closed his eyes, deeply inhaled, and after a moment, exhaled.-"Because there will be times, when you will _have _to spy on _your_ village."

They were not shocked. They knew of those things, were told of it, or at least, suspected this. But to practice it this early, in these circumstances… They were not ready, or prepared. And as sure didn't expect this. It was like betrayal. They were supposed to play around someone who trusted them. Learn things they _don't _want to know about, and above all of this, they had to view their comrades as a potential threat, enemy or worse, the _traitors _of their village.

-"Are you sure you want us to do this?"-Replied Ino quietly.

Asuma looked at them and noticed their hesitation, some mix of fear, anger and doubt. At that moment he started to doubt himself. Maybe they were not as ready as he thought, or better yet, _imagined_. They really didn't want this. It's not like the mission was too complicated, no, the mental state and strain behind it was the most important. Spying, infiltration, interrogation are the hardest specialties in mastering. For kids to enter this world this early means a point of no return. He didn't want to break them. He could wait longer, cherish their childhood, their innocence and so he decided to give them the easier job, so that…

-"Then fine. We can do this."-He looked up and saw the determined face of the blonde girl. He was surprised to see this reaction. Even more so, he was surprised to see the looks of her teammates. Calm, ready and confident. Shikamaru had a subtle smirk, which his chubby friend shared. They nodded at her words, and it was one of those rare times, when team 10 worked and thought as one. Asuma smiled. They were special. They were something else. Maybe, right now, he's looking at the future legendary team that will reach beyond the achievements of their parents and teachers. Who knows?

-"I think Ino should take Sakura and Sasuke, Choji, you get to work on Sakura and Sai, while I will get closer to Sai and Sasuke. And together, we will subtly and carefully observe Hatake-san."

-"Why so? Why not take them one on one?"-The blonde asked.

-"Cause it would be suspicious if we 'attack' them out of nowhere, without a reason. We have to first create the right conditions and circumstances to start. It would be good if you and Sakura became friends again, like, tell her something important, and let her believe that you trust her with some secret or your biggest fear, it will get you closer. With Sasuke it should probably start about techniques in combat and something about power, I don't know, not sure for now… So, it leaves us with Sai and Kakashi, about them we don't know much, but I believe that you, Choji, could get closer to that quiet artist, he's a dark person, so a bit of 'light' could open him up. And Hatake, well, he's experienced, strong, observant and getting close to him to get the information is a suicide, or at least, extreme pain in ass. So I'd say we start with his students."

Ino and Choji nodded, both partly glad and unhappy. That was a smart move. Ino is happy she gets to deal with Sasuke, but mad to be forced in friendship with pinky. Choji believes he will be able to 'help' the boy 'lost in the darkness' but Sakura never was on his list of the pretty people. For Shikamaru to deal with the raven survivor of the greatest clan and his shadow…Yes, Shikamaru has noticed already the strange way the white skinned boy was always there where was Sasuke, and especially when it was the most required. Yes, it looks like he's a good teammate. But with the way 7th squad interacts, it's obvious they are not friends. So, it's suspicious. Now to think about it, Sai came from _nowhere_. Never seen in the academy, or on the streets, the story about him being the one genin to survive some dangerous mission along with his jounin sensei and be transferred to team Kakashi is no ordinary thing to happen, even in history of peace time in Konoha. And that strange behavior…

On their way back, Asuma suggested that they should be careful not to talk about their 'mission' with anyone, even each other, so that there will be no accident about it. They agreed, and promised to be careful and don't raise suspicions. Inwardly, they thanked God that it was team 7, not 8. Because spying on spies is not the top of their priorities and dreams… They felt sick imagining the bugs on their skin, bite marks from Akamaru and Kiba, and marks from getting hit by the gentle fist. So, all in all, it was not that bad. They will work on it slowly, gently, imperceptibly. Their squad was formed for this_. They_ were born for this. So nothing will stop them now. With the stars of the night above them, the plan in their minds, and postures relaxed, they stepped on the stairs to the entrance of the shrine, only to be greeted by some old monk, who slightly bowed to them, and turning to Shikamaru, spoke with a smile.

-"Naruto-sama wishes to speak to you, young man."

Not expecting this, the Nara boy was shocked, but relaxed and nodded. The old man nodded to him, turned around and entered the shrine, Shikamaru following him softly and slowly, and when he was almost inside, crossing the doors of the main entrance, he frowned and glanced without turning behind him, at his teacher, Asuma, and saw it again, this distrusting gaze, hidden well in the narrowed eyes. Why? _"Why not the villagers we met today, or the monks of the shrine, or Naruto-san, our client?"_ What was wrong with him being interested in the monk, or this monk being interested in him? That look scared him again, but he only frowned deeper, and without any other visible reaction, continued on his way to the prayer hall. When he entered, he was surprised to find the place almost empty. It was beautiful, just as Ino described. But while she saw the gathering and prayer, he was met with a lonely figure sitting by the statue near the farthest wall from the doors. The smell of the incense smoke in the room was nice, and the warm, candle color around him, was peaceful. He gathered himself up, and walked closer to the monk, curiously looking around. Now he stood behind him and heard the beads tapping. In front of them was a big, beautiful figure of the Okanzeon, it had eleven heads, and many hands, and was covered in gold, painted with white color. In one of those hands was the lotus, and in the other, the red beads…

-"I want to thank you, for your courage, and resolve."-Shikamaru looked down and then lowered his head and closed his eyes.

-"It's alright, I' m glad I could do something. And… I' am glad you're feeling better."

Suddenly, he was swimming again. For a few moments of silence, he bathed in a small feeling of being _welcome_. It was like a magic. Was it because of this place, the figures presenting the Gods? Was it because he was looking for a peace? Or was it because he trusted this small, but important person…

-"You're worried. About your training and teacher."

Eyes widened in disbelieve, Shikamaru didn't try to hide his surprise. He gulped and tried to control his breathing.

-"Don't blame him; he has his reasons, Shikamaru."-After a slight pause, the Nara boy blinked.

-"Um…I guess so."-The black clad figure shifted a bit.

-"The mind games are fun and all, but you lack in the physical training. Should run around the shrine thirty times in the morning, and ask Asuma to train your team in taijutsu, or join the training of the young monks in the afternoon…"-At this Shikamaru was confused for a moment, then smiled widely and scratched the side of his neck sheepishly.

-"Yeah, I agree."

-"Now go, and sleep well."

-"Hai. Thank you. Goodnight Naruto-san."-He bowed to the waist and slowly and softly left. And when the doors closed, and sounds of the steps disappeared, the hooded monk whispered to himself.

-"So much alike…And at the same time, so different…"

* * *

He sat on the steps, admiring the beautiful night sky. Full of the small sparkling stars, talking to each other with that strange sparkling language. The surroundings were dark but clear, the warm wind was whispering to the grass and the leaves, the nature partly fell asleep, and the monks of the shrine were resting in chambers. The only other person that seemed to lack the mood of lying down was the troubled copy-cat. He skillfully walked from behind, and with a grace of a panther sat beside the quiet smoker. With a smoke floating around them, and the sound of inhaling and exhaling, they sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Watching the peaceful sky. The insects of the night started their activities with a strange, used only by them music. The lonely eye looked down and closed in sadness. Sensing this, the figure beside spoke.

-"I' am scared too, you know…"-Asuma looked down too, and the hand holding the cigarette rested on his right raised knee, while his left hand on the left. After a few minutes he spoke again.-"I gave my team a tricky mission today."

Here Kakashi slightly turned to him and his eye, now open and somewhat narrowed with a raised eyebrow, demanded the explanation. When after a minute there was no answer, he elaborated.

-"What kind of mission?"-He voiced with monotony.

-"That kind where they spy on the target, to gather, the information."-Another inhale and exhale. -"Hope they will make it. Because if _so_, I will put them in the exams."-The sentence was accompanied by the toothy grin.

-"Oh."-No impression. "Nothing special. Just training in their specialty. Some spying and interfering in private topics. Now wait a moment…!" -"Wh-who…cough, cough, who are they going to…?"

-"Ne, don't worry. Just don't pay it to much attention. I want you to tell me if it's too obvious or not once they get to work. Like; a test if you wish. After all, you're better at noticing some things than I am. Knowing your opinion, I'll figure out what to teach them in the future."

Hatake looked at him with incredibility written on his face. While in shock, a different bunch of thoughts crossed his mind. "Don't pay attention…? What the hell was that?! And I have to let them wander around to gather information on GOD knows WHO? Just like that? It's freaking fucking ridiculous!"

-"No."-Was the reply. Completely opposite to the screaming one inside his head: "Fucking NO!"

-"I' m sorry."-Asuma said smiling.-"But you _do_ realize I will bug you until you say 'Yes', don't you?"-Exhale with a pointing gaze.

The one eyed jounin gave a long and deep, loud and hopeless sigh. He shook his head in something between disappointment, unbelief, pain and laugh. Then he stood up keeping his grace, and receiving the goodnight kiss from the warm wind of the night, headed back inside.

* * *

It was just a bird. The black bird, the crow. It didn't have any other color than black in its feathers. Even its mouth and eyes were black. Even its claws. Some kind of a bad sign? How so? The morning was peaceful and shiny. The dust on the ground was moving with a slight wind, almost hissing. The morning activities of the shrine were quiet, not everyone was up yet. But he didn't sleep. He just got used to waking up early. His book now had a new picture, almost finished. The black crow on a white small statue, near the main entrance of the shrine of Fire. He noticed it when he walked out, its gaze was following him, and observing, and taking it as a sign to something important, Sai decided to transfer, write it down for a future. As if understanding him, the bird didn't move, and let him be observed back. Sai didn't want it to be completely black, it didn't feel right, it was wrong, somehow, so he carefully, as a master in love with his art, carried down the traces of light, the traces of warm morning rays, that laid on the surface and between the feathers, on its head, back, and tail. He added the light to its eyes, trying to copy, _deliver _its look. A bit narrowed, calm, calculating, sad… and tired. The fascination it brought him was unlike before, when he observed the nature. It was rather like he was granted a moment to see something, not everyone had a right to see. Even more, he was allowed to keep it in his memory and in his art.

He finished it in half an hour, and moved his brush to sign the page. He frowned, and looked up. "Should I call it at all? The pictures of Naruto-san were the first I decided to name… Should I do this now? It seems right, I think… The Crow… No, the Black Observer? The Black Bird? The Witness… No… Oh, right, I know, this will do, "The Messenger".

The scenario around was sickening. "Tree, tree, tree, tree, tree, tree… Oh, another one, and another one, slightly smaller… If you can get used to the sand around you everywhere it probably wouldn't be a problem to get used to the green land like this. But no, the truth is when you live with the sand around and in your guts, boots, mouth and what else your whole life, you don't mind it at all. And when there is _no_ sand around that much and the world surrounding you looks different, it's sickening. The fact that in this situation you feel completely alone is even more troubling…" These thoughts belonged to the sand boy named Kankuro. No, he wasn't _that_ lonely, it's just that in his team people didn't talk much. So the silence and shadows of the nature in this green land were scaring him. So to distract himself he was making the strange theories and philosophies in his head. "Maybe if I play sick because of some poison I tested on myself we will turn back home? Impossible, Gaara will tell me to stay here or go back alone, or worse, kill me because I' m stupid…"

-"Stop sweating, Kankuro, you are what, sick or something? Don't tell me the weather's too hot."

He looked to the left side and saw the narrowed look of his sister. "Strange look, is she making fun of me? Is she angry? Did I do something wrong? Moved in a wrong way…? Or maybe she's worried? No way, I bet she's bored to death just as I am and wants to break the scary silence. That's my sis'!" –"I'm fine. Maybe saw some small drunk and laughing his ass off raccoon on the road, but that's all. I can definitely live with it."

The blond girl with the short tails smirked and nodded once.-"I see. What a pity he couldn't come with us, I wouldn't mind some funny company."

Kankuro grinned.-"Well, we could always take with us these drugged, swearing and giggling squirrels." –The sentence made Temari laugh loudly. Even their jounin sensei smiled, remembering that sometimes Kankuro had these _really strange_ hallucinations after testing a drug or a poison. He even admitted once to have seen Gaara flying on the orange paper wings, wearing some pink and sick green color clothes, and throwing down the confetti down on the villagers while grinning like a maniac.

-"Shut up you two. We're almost there."

The older brother and sister looked at each other apologetically, and followed closely behind. Pretty soon they were facing the building. Temari 'fell in love' with a small white statue near the entrance. It was a white fox, though wild, it smiled like a female, and had something in common with the sand girl.

The doors opened and unsurprisingly, the Konoha ninja stepped out. There were two teams. The genin and two jounin sensei. One with his left eye covered, stepped forward and looked at Gaara.

-"Welcome to the Shrine of Fire. Naruto-sama was expecting you."

End of 4 Chapter

Hope you liked it. If you did (or did not), please **Review**!


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N. ** I am really, really sorry for being late. You see, there was a black cat that crossed my path so I had to reach my destination from the other side of the planet, and well, somewhere along the way I got lost on the road of life...

No, seriously, I was really busy, but I managed!To be fair and not show any favor for any of my stories I update them the same day, Today, so have fun and let me know if you liked it!

Now, I need your** HELP**, I know I suck at summary, and I already tried to change the one for this story, it didn't help so your suggestions, advise and ideas would be **GREATLY** appreciated! As well as your reviews to improve the story!!!

Chapter 5 my greatest hopes and fears

The black haired boy hid his confusion well when his teacher moved to the entrance of the shrine with confidence and calm. If he didn't know better, he'd say that he knew who was waiting by the doors, when some random monk announced the arrival of the few foreign ninja. While passing the corridor the teams joined together and a minute later greeted the guests. They were not from Konoha, that was evident. And it was also hard to say who was the weirdest in their group… The girl would be just that, a girl, if not her confident attitude, short hair and suspicious weapon hanging on her back the size of which was quite intimidating. Another weirdo stood by her side, in the black suit that is questionable in the world of shinobi, his face was not worth mentioning, while at the same time, he had on his back something too, and the fact that this did not look like a sword either, made the young Uchiha believe that it was a weapon, and foreign to him too. The tallest man had his face unworthy of mentioning like his companion, and that piece of cloth on the side of it was even more suspicious (A.N. Sasuke probably forgot at that moment that his own teacher is wearing a mask as well as covers his eye, leaving open only one lonely eye on his whole face). And then there was this boy, about their age, with… gourd on his back? What with these ninja and the size of whatever that was hanging on them? And these clothes, definitely not from the Fire country. He glanced at the symbol on their foreheads and was surprised to see it was the sand clock. What surprised him even more was a moment when his teacher announced that they were expected, and by none other than their client. Was this also his purpose in coming here? To meet with these people?

Being expected, the feeling was interesting, nice, exciting and worrying at the same time. Gaara narrowed his eyes and analyzed the ninja before him. They were not prepared for a battle, it means they don't expect him to fight and kill them. And these kids were weaklings, they are not here on the serious mission, and there's no anbu squad protecting his target. How strange, if they knew that he's coming, why aren't they ready?

The sand user made a step forward.

-"I wish to see the Jinjuuriki of Konoha."-His voice carried the hidden threat to everyone who dares to oppose him and his desires.

As always, it was unbelievable, and now, for Kakashi to once again see that Naruto was right, it was funny. This morning he was told to greet the guests… Before they came into view. He was told how to greet them. So he just let himself slip into a role, and smirking, faced the main guest.

-"You may; but on one condition."-He stepped farther and eye' smiled almost mockingly.-"You will leave your weapon and armor, here."

The sight was sweet. The previously narrowed eyes were widened. Why not? It's not everyday that some stranger knows that you have armor; especially when it's invisible. But jounin's amusement was short lived, because the rest of leaf ninja did not share his point of view. After all they didn't know what he knew, and didn't see what he meant. The red haired genin scowled and a spike of his chakra was a sign of his boiling emotions.

-"How'd I know that you won't use this to your advantage and attack?"

-"We wouldn't. This is not the place for the bloodshed. We're just making sure that you realize this too."

The face painted genin deeply frowned. He glared at the one eyed man and slightly turned to his brother.

-"This is a bad idea."

His sister was observing the leaf ninja with a frown equal to that of Kankuro, but she saw that some of them were lost. But even if they were scared and weak it didn't change a fact that they shouldn't know about them coming or anything about them at all.

-"I agree."

"**His blood will be sweet, Gaara. Go, and taste it for your mother…"**

The red haired boy kept his gaze on the building behind the ninja, as if he observed something inside and knew what and who was there. Then after a minute he simply raised his hand to the belt of the gourd and slowly, hesitantly grabbed it. Knowing that he has to renounce his sand, leave it here so he could continue. He raised it and with a painful expression put the gourd on the ground. His teammates watched him scared and fascinated at the same time; because Gaara never, ever faced anyone without his bloody weapon. He raised his shaking hand to the cork, and hearing his mother reassuring him that she will protect him, he lifted it and carefully guided his chakra to his sand armor, directing the grains into the gourd.

The genin watched the sand ninja in curiosity, as well as their own captain, but when they saw the sand falling off the youngest one their mouths were agape. Such ability was amazing, and the grains seemed to flow like a stream, fully controlled, making them ready to believe that it was a bloodline. The one eyed jounin observed fascinated as the armor that created the second skin for its user turned into the sand, and slowly left the boy, leaving him completely vulnerable. He wanted to see the other human sacrifice so badly that he was ready to stay unarmed and surrounded by the potentially enemy ninja and in the foreign territory no less.

When the red haired boy finished, his hand put the cork back in its place, and he stroked the surface of the sand vessel gently. Then he composed himself and faced the leaf captain. Without words, he demanded the allowance for entering the shrine. At this, Kakashi smiled and nodded.

-"The meeting will be private, but you may take with you one of your companions. I will escort you so please follow me."

The sand jounin nodded and almost made a step to the stairs when Gaara chose a companion himself.

-"Temari."-The jounin looked at his student surprised, but he didn't voice his opinion.

One word. He asked her to come with him. He chose her as the one he will trust here. He ordered her not to deny his request. One chance, to prove she will not betray him.

Her eyes widened, but the look in them softened when she realized that this matter was important to him. She followed him without hesitation, and her expression was determined. She will protect him, and support him if he needed it. After all, whatever comes, he will always be her little brother, monstrous, bloody and strong on the surface, and lonely, lost and weak inside.

To their relief the rest of leaf ninja didn't follow them; they stayed at the entrance keeping an eye at Kankuro and their teacher, Baki. With every step deeper into the building, the tension was rising higher, even though the one eyed jounin seemed to be relaxed and carefree, it was easy to tell he was prepared for the attack, no matter when or if it comes. After a quite long walk though the dim lit corridors and halls, they finally reached their destination. Not bothering to play a drama or the mystery, the leaf ninja gently opened the beautiful doors and without a pause, walked inside. He closed the doors behind them, and made a gesture with his hand to follow him. And they did so, slowly, looking around in interest. This hall was the biggest, the mats, as well as walls and statues suggested that it was the main room for prayer. But now it was empty. It didn't stop them from feeling strangely comfortable, and covered with calmness. Maybe it was the light of the candles, or the smell.

The girl was two steps behind her brother, mesmerized by the beauty of the place, while he stared at the sitting person in front of him. He didn't know if he should feel offended by the fact that this person did not face him, instead greeting him with a back turned. He didn't even know how this person looked, because the black material effectively covered absolutely everything. The strange rhythmic sound calmed him, and he noticed that after a subtle nod from the person the jounin retreated to the doors that were behind them, giving them a space for privacy.

Noticing the jounin gesture, the girl decided that she too, will let her brother feel comfortable. She moved to the side, not too far and kneeled by the wall, still facing both of the demon vessels, offering her brother a silent support.

Gaara glanced at the white figure towering over them, and wondered if this person prayed to that God specifically. And a thought crossed his mind, would he pray to Gods himself if he needed support and never had it? Illogical, this person has enough support from its protectors, why would he need it from someone who will never grant it to him? And why become a monk, when you have the power to kill and destroy...

-"I thought you came here for answers."

The statement was surprising. There was no anger, no fear. The person offered him the answers to the questions. Questions he asked himself his whole life, waiting for signs, and when they never came, waiting for storms and rains of blood, creating it as his own signs, and answers. He didn't move from his position behind the sitting monk. And he didn't want to rush things, because there was a possibility he will not like what may be said.

-"My name is Sabaku no Gaara. I am a vessel of the one tailed demon Tanuki. Tell me your name."-The voice was monotone and the red haired boy hid well any emotions he might have.

The hood covered head shifted, while Gaara observed every movement with full attention.

-"My name is Naruto. I' m a jailor of the nine tailed demon Kitsune."-The head turned to the side somewhat.-"Nice to meet you."

The pause was short. For too long he waited to know, or at least to compare the main reason for his struggle, the main reason for his life.

-"Existence, how do you prove your existence?"

-"By simply existing."

What a strange answer. How can you simply exist? Before one tailed vessel could ask again the figure continued.

-"Life is not about proving you exist, Gaara. It's about the reason you live for, and how."

His green eyes narrowed, he wanted to say his reason to live was to prove he exists, but…

-"The right way to live is not proving that you live, but having _something worth living for_. Or someone."

He looked down on the ground gritting his teeth. What a stupid answer. As if he didn't know that everyone needs a reason to live.

-"I live for myself."-Was the venomous reply.-"And I love only myself."

-"So you must be very lonely."

That was enough; he knew better what he felt and what he needed. Gaara grimaced and turned around to leave.

-"Even with its voice in your head, its encouragement and even _care_, you're lonely."-Sand user's head turned to the monk sharply.

-"No, my mother…"

-"…Is dead and watching over you from the skies above. The voice you hear belongs to the demon, the one you carry inside. If you continue to let it manipulate you, no amount of blood will ever ease your pain. You're not alone Gaara, you're blind because you're _scared_ of having someone."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he did prefer to be alone. He wouldn't get close to anyone, knowing that he could be betrayed any moment, just because there are too many people dreaming of him being dead. And these people will go too far to get close to him, starting with attacking him at night, and ending with becoming his friend first.

The sand user again faced the doors, seeing the one eyed jounin standing there calmly, observing them but doing nothing to interfere. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate, while his _mother_ was asking him to stay and fight the other jinchuuriki.

-"So you tell me that I must have the other reason to live."-The tone was quiet, with a hint of a threat.

-"Don't be hasty in your assumptions… Take your time and think it over, please."

Is it worth it? Waste the time to try and see the things he doesn't want to see? Is it right, to doubt himself and his beliefs? Why should he, trust someone he doesn't know? What's there for him? Pain? Realization? But what if he _wants _to live in his own illusion, and world…? What if he doesn't want to face the truth, because it hurts?

-"Gaara…?"

He turned to face her…

_Flashback 7 years ago_

_She opened her eyes to find it was the early morning. The sun was slowly entering the room. And it was oddly quiet. She remembered training yesterday, and being tired. Her brother, Kankuro, learned a new technique and boasted about it all day. Together, they decided that they will have a day off after this. And now she was disappointed, because she woke up with the dawn, when she could sleep in. Slowly she rose from her bed and turned to the door. It was then that she noticed a strange smell, coming from outside of her room. She frowned in curiosity and, not bothering to change her clothes, walked outside. _

_The corridor was empty. She lazily rubbed her eyes and looked around. Nothing interesting, maybe that's just her imagination? Shrugging it off, she strode to the bathroom, happy that she will be first. Reaching the doorknob with her hand she caught the strange smell again. It was unknown, new to her. But at the same time not pleasant. Deciding to find the source of it, she walked down the corridor, passing the room that belonged to Kankuro. A few steps ahead, on the opposite side was the door to her youngest brother's room. She was surprised to find it even slightly opened. Gaara never left his doors open. From the inside, a few rays of morning light crawled out, giving the door a warm color. Hesitantly, not sure if it was the right thing to invade his privacy, and disturb his sleepless sleep, she pushed the door open._

…_Only to see her small brother standing near a wall, and staring down on the floor. At the same time, he was licking his fingers on the right hand. His expression was one of curiosity and wondering. He stood in a white shirt with red dots, in green shorts. She wondered what he was looking at, and opened the door a bit wider. There, by the wall was a…. mess? What was it? Black and red… Black and brown looked like a pile of clothes soiled with sand and red was some liquid… She noticed that this liquid was what her brother was licking off his fingers. Looking closely there and then she knew that there was a body, a dead body, and the liquid was blood…_

_-"Gaara…?"_

_He turned to face her…_

_End of flashback_

…awake from his reverie, to find her holding back the tears. What was wrong? Was she sad? As far as he remembered, here happened nothing concerning her.

-"I heard that there's a beautiful waterfall not too far from here. We've never seen one…Do you want to take a look?"-She asked softly, wiping a tear that managed to escape.

He watched her with a frown. But then again, he had nothing better to do. And staying here for too long would only anger him.

-"Yes."-He answered tonelessly and followed by her walked to the jounin, who opened the doors and led them outside.

* * *

Right hand straight, fist tight, right leg behind, foot to the side, left hand bent on the same level with waist, fist raised, left leg bent, foot straight, step forward, switch, step back, switch, step forward… The weight on the left side, left leg bent, foot to the side, right leg drew to the right side, foot to the side, body bent at waist, right hand bent on the chin level, palm facing the front, left hand behind, bent on the ribcage level, palm facing the sky. Put the weight on the right side, feet and hands switch, back on the left side, switch…

Stance after stance, form after form, drops of sweat fell off the temples. The six of them, genin, in line were behind the lines of the group, ordered to repeat every move of the young orange clad monks. It was hard to keep up with the speed, but it was beautiful. They faced the backs of Fire monks, but they could see the power. Every move, and every turn, had a meaning. "This is the flow. Palms are creating the turns, turns create the banks, fist present the stone, stone is river's hole, form and moves is speed, stance is waterfall… When I memorize the flow, I will be able to swim in it with my eyes closed…"

The blonde in purple watched her teammate suspiciously. He never, ever worked that hard. He never did so quietly. She's never seen his expression so determined. He not only trained as he was told to, he _wanted_ to. They were in it for two hours now, and he hasn't complained _once_. Her other teammate, Choji, silently agreed with her. Their friend was lazy. He _wouldn't _want to bother himself with the training, now would he? Since when he behaves like a ninja?

The weight on the right side, right leg straight, foot forward, left leg bent and turned along with a foot to the left side, back straightened, right hand raised to the right side and bent on the shoulder level, palm facing the front, left hand raised on the shoulder level, drew to the left side, palm raised, head turned left, turn head to the right, straighten the right hand, palm up, bent the left arm, palm facing the front, put the weight on the left side, switch…

Anger, was in his mind. He could memorize every move in seconds, while he's forced to learn as the rest. _"I don't want you to depend on your eyes' abilities, Sasuke. Taijutsu is physical training, for shaping your body and sharpening your mind, don't use Sharingan to copy the style of this shrine, it would be a sign of disrespect towards its users." _Kakashi wanted him to be like the rest of the weak genin, wanted him to believe that not using his skill is better sometimes. Why should he listen to this? If he possesses such a skill, he should take advantage of it, to get stronger, faster, better.

While some of them concentrated on training or themselves, one person was lost in thoughts too. He was fast enough, repeated the forms almost flawlessly, was not exhausted yet but his mind was somewhere else. "They never met before, if they did, I would know this. So it means the jinchuuriki of Sand and jinchuuriki of Leaf met today for a first time. And the sand team travelled here for this meeting to occur. What is behind it? How important is it? Does it have anything to do with the demons, or kages? I will have to send this information to Danzou-sama…" Thought the pale and smiling member of team 7.

By the trees nearby, two men stood watching the training session. The bearded one was smoking while having a tired expression. He had a deep frown, and seemed to be unable to find an answer to a very difficult question. His eyes travelled from time to time to his hard working student, and every time he seemed to come to a conclusion, he turned away shaking his head slightly, as if he realized that his idea was wrong. Next to him, relaxed, stood the bald monk; he slowly counted his beads, they were red and yellow, quite long, he wore them on his neck, and held in his left hand. This person was smiling warmly and looking straight ahead, where the youngsters trained.

-"They will come back you know."-Said the monk. His companion looked up without understanding.

-"That boy, Gaara, and his companions."

Here the jounin sighed and turned his head away from his friend, telling him with his posture that he didn't care about this. A few seconds later the monk turned to him questioningly, and even in a bit of a surprise.

-"Don't tell me you're worried about Nara kid, Asuma. Give him a chance; I'm sure Naruto-sama will be a good influence on him."

The jounin sighed again, this time quietly, and his gaze fell on the ground.

-"How can you know…"

The orange clad man smiled again, with understanding in his eyes.

-"About what?"

The smoker looked up scowling.

-"About sand nin coming back, and, Shikamaru not becoming a trouble."

The monk raised his right hand to his chin and tapped it jokingly. Then he hummed, turning his head from side to side in the slow motion.

-"Well, I have my ways…"-He said as his eyes closed. The smoker watched him in a mix of confusion, awe and a 'what the hell?' expressions.

-"I swear, sometimes you are worse than Kakashi."

* * *

It was only his reflection; his body, his looks, his face on the surface of the water. The loneliness, was he condemned to always be alone? To look for a signs that could guide him through the obstacles of fate? To never know the meaning of love, or never understand himself…

His gourd was in hands of his teacher, who was behind him with his siblings, his skin felt the breeze of the evening air, his feet almost reached the water surface, as he stood on the bank, stony ground, observing the water life, that was surrounded by the colors of green, surrounded by the bushes, flowers and trees. It fell from above, flowing like sand, creating a mini storm that he wanted to touch with his hand. He has never seen so much water. The noise it created made him feel alive. Was it worth to live? Live, when you're alone in the world that wishes you were dead…

In reflection behind him appeared his sister. She was worried about him, but she hid it well with a smile. She was hesitant to get close to him, always. Because she knew that if she crosses the line, she'll be dead. But there were times, in the past and now too, when she allowed herself to touch him. Just to give him a sign, that she's not leaving him. Now she did it again. Her right hand touched his left shoulder and she looked at his reflection on the water, and her gaze was soft. Both of them felt the refreshing wind passing them, shifting their hair, leaving on their faces the particles of water. The sun started to set, and it was now filled with the warm color.

"Maybe, after all, I am not alone."

* * *

The lonely eye sharply glanced up. Then it narrowed seeing the bird. It took off from the nearby forest, it didn't even look suspiciously, it had no chakra attached to it, and was common in this territory. But his heart for some reason beat quicker. As if he forgot about something, haven't noticed, or lost…

The black spot on the sky flew away, not making any sound, in direction of Konoha, as the masked jounin stared at the place where it has been noticed by him a moment ago.

End of 5 chapter


	6. Chapter 6

The new chapter!

'**Thank You' **to all who reviewed so far, your support means a lot to me!

**Important**! It came to my attention that some of you may have trouble reading the story because of the dashes, and though I like it, I can change it. So please vote **"agree"** if you don't like the dashes and want a change, or **"disagree"**, if you don't have any troubles with it and don't think that a change is needed. And according to your votes in reviews, the change will, or will not be there.

-"Speech."

"Thoughts."

_Emphasis _on the word or _flashback_

Now, on with the story!

Chapter 6 Take a bath in impurity

The flames of candles around slightly flickered. In the silence could be heard only breathing. There were no windows in the main hall, so he could only guess it was getting closer to the dawn now. Watching the symbols on the walls, figures and statues was now boring him. It felt a bit strange, he wanted to sleep… The calmness, serenity of this place made him want to close his eyes even more. He looked down, to see the brush in the right hand of the other jinchuuriki create another strange seal on his bared chest.

"**How can you do this to me, Gaara… don't you love your mother?"**

The voice inside his head spoke to him again. He decided to ignore it. And he knew that soon, he will not hear it at all. He already felt that demon's chakra was under his control, and that he had no demon's instinct to attack the other jinchuuriki because of its mere presence. The brush was dipped in the small bowl filled with his blood and ink again, and he observed as another seal was drawn on his stomach. The left hand of the hooded person slowly counted the beads. The wrist was visibly bruised under the beads, because of their constant usage. They were red, decorated with the white metal in the few places, and had the golden threads on cohesion. The sight of this hand counting each bead was hypnotizing.

He hoped that he made the right decision. That night they got back to the shrine and his team was given rooms to rest while he came here again, and received an offer that he couldn't refuse. He knew that his seal was incomplete, and he couldn't control his negative emotions, or refuse the voice inside. It appears, this problem will be solved, and he will still have all of his abilities. It was a _sign _to him. A sign that he can _try_ again.

"**This will not make you happy, you will always be alone and **h..."

The voice disappeared with echo. His mind was clear. He was free.

He watched as one more seal was created on his chest. The other jinchuuriki patiently and silently worked. He started to wonder what had to happen for the vessel of the strongest of demons to be so quiet, closed and lonely person. And why he treated himself so severely. In this beautiful room, full of light and warmth, in this black cloak he looked like a _stain_ on the white sheets. As if he was unworthy of this pure place. As if he wore this to show others that he was dark, evil, dangerous and impure.

-"Why do you wear this?"-He asked in simple curiosity, while looking down at the person sitting on the floor in front of him. He himself sat with his hands at his sides, straight and unmoving. He was actually surprised that he wasn't touched even once. Only brush made a contact with his skin.

-"To hide from the rest."-Replied a person not stopping.

The red haired boy tiredly raised a non existing brow.

-"You're not good in hiding. Everybody knows who you are and where you are."

-"Almost finished, by the way, what do you plan to do when you get back to the Sand?"

The monk changed the topic. Gaara looked down. Remembering what this monk told him few hours ago. He wasn't upset with the news about his father's death. Though he still wasn't sure if he had to believe it, he felt it was the truth. But did he have to do anything because of it? Be happy, or sad? Think about the future? Plan revenge against Orochimaru? Does he even need it? How his siblings will react to this…How his village will react to the death of their leader? Orochimaru wants to use sand shinobi against the leaf. What will they gain in return? Nothing. Stop Orochimaru? No one will listen to him. Act on his own? As Temari says, 'bad idea'.

The black clad monk made about twenty hand seals before raising his right palm over Gaara's chest. In that moment the palm was covered in purple light, and the new seals on the sand user's body, after gleaming for a moment, became permanent.

At the same time, Gaara felt he won't be able to stay conscious, so he simply gave in, closing his eyes and letting his body rest in the deserved sleep for a first time in many years.

* * *

Knock on the door. Behind it, was heard a reply, -"Enter."

The door opened into the dark and small room. Everything was made of wood. By the desk sat an old wrinkled man. His upper body was bandaged. Near him, leaning on the desk was a cane. With a light of one candle, he was reading some scrolls and documents, having a deep frown in his partly covered face. Inside the room stepped a shinobi, his body clad in black, his face hidden by the mask. He kneeled in front of his leader, and waited for a permission to speak. After a minute, the aging man turned and looked at him.

-"What happened."

The shinobi reached to his pouch and took out a scroll.

-"A moment ago we received the message from one of our operatives. It was attached to the bird made from ink."

The man raised a brow and took the scroll. He opened it and read narrowing his eyes.

-"Very interesting… and troubling at the same time…"-He glanced at the still kneeling ninja, whose head was lowered.-"Good. Dismissed."

The moment later the door closed.

* * *

The first rays of light were welcomed by the man who strode along the road through the trees and bushes. He had a nice mood, and was almost dancing in his wooden sandals. On his face was a stupid grin that curved the red lines that ran under his eyes. His eyes gleamed when he saw the building. There was no one around. "Too early probably; everybody sleeps." He thought. "Well, not everybody, this lonely boy on the stairs is busy already and I know for a fact that my favorite student will be quite awake. Even if he didn't sleep well last nights as Gamakichi informed me, he will not greet me with snoring, unlike someone else I know (here in his mind formed a picture with a blonde woman with intimidating breast, with her upper body laying on the table, while in her right hand was an empty bottle of sake. On her face was a grimace of disgust and her left hand held the edge of the table in a deathlike grip. She snored loudly, in no lady manner, and he remembered that he refused to wake her up, knowing that she can be dangerous in times and moods like this…)

He made a few steps up the stairs while glancing at the pale genin who seemed to be drawing and smiled at the silence of the place. He walked in and hummed some unknown melody, while glancing left and right, making sure he was alone. That is, until he turned into the corridor leading to his destination, and noticed the doors open, with the three people, "shinobi", he realized, that stood by it waiting for something. He kept himself calm and collected and continued on his way with the wide smile.

-"Now, where's my favorite student Naru-chan, Naru-cha-a-an!"-He said out loud in sing-song voice.

The ninja, one man and obviously a jounin, one boy and judging from his clothes probably a genin, and one girl, genin too, looked at the white haired man in strange attire with surprise and curiosity.

He uncaringly walked through the doors happily and his eyes found his 'little monk', that he saw standing by the red haired boy who looked very alike that jinchuuriki in sand.

-"Here you are, Naru-chan! I've been loo…"

-"I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING CALL ME THAT!!!"-was a surprisingly angry response that was accompanied by the strong gust of wind that pushed the hermit ways back through the corridor. The three ninja by the door observed the flight with stupefied expressions, with a sweatdrops added to it as the strands of their hair and their clothes shifted (blowing off Kankuro's hood, making the mess on Temari's head and lifting the piece of cloth off Baki's face, showing… well, use your imagination…). The red haired genin though didn't show his shock on the outside, he preferred to keep his reactions in a dark and safe place, his mind profundity.

Even so, the man came back without any sign of being harshly thrown. He had a sheepish grin on and was scratching the side of his neck.

-"Ne, I see you have some interesting guests today…"-he said glancing at the sand ninja. They frowned at him silently.

-"They're ready to leave, so just take a look at the seals to make sure they're right."-Said the monk as he slightly pointed with his sleeve at Gaara. The hermit frowned at the boy who he now had confirmed _was_ the sand jinchuuriki, and raising his hand to his chin in thought, strode to the pair, ignoring the stares sent his way.

He crouched by the boy when the mentioned hesitantly took his shirt off. Then he watched the black symbols on the boy's torso nodding time after time. His eyes widened when he saw the main seal on the stomach. He knew that this one had to be put first and was keeping the demon inside, but what surprised him, was its weakness and instability. It was the most important part and yet it was done incorrectly… Though now he understood what those smaller seals were for. They were strengthening the main seal, and at the same time, each one of them had its own effect on the jailor-prisoner connection. The whole work was too complicated in its simplicity for his likes but he knew that it was done expertly. So he just grinned and stood up, crossing his arms.

-"I couldn't have done that better myself."

At this the sand boy nodded and put his clothes on again. His companions waited patiently while they held his gourd full of sand. He glanced at the black clad monk and hesitantly lowered his head in a bow.

-"Thank you… for everything, Naruto-san."

Then he turned and left without looking back. He noticed his teammates give him the strange looks, as if they were scared of what was done to him. His behavior however didn't change from yesterday, so they knew that he was the same as before, and if he wanted to, he will tell them the details and explain what happened.

The one eyed jounin woke up when he felt the familiar chakra. He raised a brow and after silently leaving the room and going through the morning rituals in a short time, he decided to check the source of his worries. But, finding what appeared to be his favorite writer visiting his favorite student (he didn't hide the wide smile behind his mask), he left the situation in his hands and travelled to the kitchen, small and connected to the dining-room, to have a breakfast before the genin woke up. After all, he had to eat, but he couldn't show them his face, and didn't want to, really. Imagine his surprise, when there was someone already busy devouring the food.

After thinking about it long and hard, Choji decided that he will start the 'operation' that was his responsibility the next morning. He knew that his target was waking up quite early, so to use it to his advantage he had to wake up early too, and prepare the story about him not having a good rest because of the nightmare. Easy too, because he had a good idea about making that red haired boy and some red chakra that they all saw before around their client the main characters of his 'scary dreams' show. Even though he was ready the moment he woke up, he still felt that if something goes wrong he will get in trouble. So he smiled at the thought of getting some serious breakfast that will ease his nerves.

-"Already up, Choji?"-Asked Kakashi as he raised a brow at the disappearing food.

-"Couldn't sleep, Kakashi-san, so I wandered around and well… ended up here."

-"I see."-The jounin nodded.-"Then I'll go and wake up Asuma."-he turned as he thought "shake and bother for his troublesome students".

The chubby boy nodded and smirked when the man left. He then finished eating, and picking an apple and buns as reserve strode to the entrance through the halls and corridors. In some way he was glad that it was so early, no one will disturb him, observe him or spy on him, (what an irony, spy and be careful not be spied on…). He fixed his scarf somewhat and widely yawned, while crossing the main doors. He covered his eyes with his hand when he made a step outside, to let his sight adjust to the sunlight. And a moment later, from the corner of his narrowed eye he noticed the black haired boy on the stairs. He sat with his back to the shrine as he was writing, or drawing something. Choji lowered his hand and curious, walked closer.

When he was right behind the boy, he stooped somewhat and looked at the paper.

-"Wow, I didn't know you used colors in your drawings, Sai-san."-He said as he saw the blue, brown, yellow and red colors combined in abstraction. The picture had a strange design, it was resembling the nature, the grass and the trees, and even birds on the upper side of the picture, but the colors and forms were… unusual, irregular. The boy looked behind without emotion, but when he saw the face of the chubby genin his lips stretched in the creepy smile, while his eyes closed.

-"Good morning, Akimichi-san."-He said and then turned to his work.-"Yes, I use colors in my private drawings, time after time."

-"Just Choji, Akimichi-san is how my father is addressed, if I may?"-He asked as he pointed at the stairs, asking if he could join.

-"Of coarse."-The boy replied politely. Choji sat down and reached for the buns.

-"You want some?"-He asked offering the food to his companion.

-"Um, no, thank you."

The chubby shrugged with a small smile and started to continue his meal. Sai got back to his drawing and worked on the part that resembled the sky. Between them formed a peaceful silence that reminded Choji about the times, when he and Shikamaru watched the clouds. He remembered then what Shikamaru said about Sai, that this boy was lost in the darkness, lonely and unable to find himself among his pears; that his drawing hobby was a way to express his feelings, even if he himself did not realize that. And that his emotions weren't hidden, they were lost, or destroyed in some way. As Ino said after that, the reason for this could have been a trauma, lacking of social contact, or even emotional training, that was forbidden in Konoha in this moment, but no one said that some forms of it were not practiced. It was a bit strange and complicated to Choji, but he couldn't say that Sai was a normal person, there was something off in his behavior, and this something was his emotions.

The doors behind them opened, and they looked back. The sand team calmly reached the stairs, and giving the genin only the slight glance, walked back the way they came, with the dust floating over their feet.

* * *

-"So, what did they really come here for?"-Asked the white haired man as he scratched his head under his headband with the symbol for 'oil'.

-"Curiosity; Gaara wanted to see another Jinchuuriki, and ask a few questions."-Replied the monk as he turned and walked to the Kanzeon figure.

-"Like whether you hear voices or not?"-The hermit asked smirking. The hooded head turned in his direction and although he couldn't see what was under that wide hood he _did_ feel a glare, if the shivers that went down his spine was anything to go by.

-"We have more… exalted, topics to discuss."

The man sheepishly smiled. He knew that he will never know what it's like to be a living vessel, so he had no right to say anything about that matter, but, he could make a joke sometimes, couldn't he? The monk turned to the statue again and sat under it crossing his legs. He spoke before the man could ask his first question.

-"I wanted Gaara to open his eyes and free himself from his shell, as well as… use his influence on the ninja of the sand village, to keep its alliance with Konoha."

Hearing this hermit frowned; he walked closer to his student.

-"What are you talking about?"

-"About the sound invasion; your former teammate, Orochimaru, wanted to use the sand shinobi in his plans. And now that Gaara knows about it, he will not let himself be manipulated. More, he will convince the council of sand to go against the man, and notify Konoha about his plans, as well as come to our aid in the time of attack."

The man rubbed his chin in thought, while his eyes were unfocused. "I knew that bastard will use the exams to infiltrate the village, that he has the whole sound village under his command, but to somehow pull strings in sand? That was unexpected."

-"Are you sure that this boy is on our side now? Even if you… well, directed him to the right path, he's still a genin, heck, even if he is the son of a Kage, he still may not have enough trust to have an influence on councilmen of his village. Besides, what evidence will he have for this? Words and beliefs, conclusions and suspicions are nothing if he has no proof!"-Shouted the man, while he didn't notice his hands tremble.

-"Still don't have faith in me, Jiraya… Believe me when I say he _has_ the evidence, and he will do it… one way or another. So don't bother to _look for_ trouble in the sand village, I suggest you stay in Konoha for now and help your sensei."

The hermit sighed; he remembered that Naruto was always right (Kakashi probably was reminded of it now more than ever). He forced himself to calm down and repeated in his mind that the half of the problem was taken care of, and the main part, Orochimaru and his shinobi, now was more important. Their numbers, abilities, plans for an attack, spies… His trembling stopped, and his body relaxed.

-"Al right I get it."-he scratched the side of his head. Noticing that the awkward silence was about to take place, he sat on the mat cross legged and carefully changed the topic.-"So, how's your seal technique's going?"

The hooded figure lowered a head.

-"No result; the main seal… is too complicated for any solution I come up with so far, but, I will keep trying, with the different methods, and one day… I will be free, you will see… I will finish what the fourth started… and the demon will never see the sun again… That I promise."

-"Don't you think I should stay here with you?"-The man looked down on the floor.-"You know that beside some curious civilians and monks some foreign or missing ninja, as well as hunters may come to keep you company… You didn't bother to hide the information about you coming here, and two teams of funny genin will have no chance against most of those. I mean, sure you'll be fine, but what about the kids? And aren't you bored in here? Having around these bald freaks that treat you like a saint; pervert with the serious mental issues, a smoker, that is no example for his students, and these students that do more trouble than good, it all could be the source of some serious stress, you know?"

From the black clad boy could be heard a chuckle, that turned into a quiet laugh. Hearing it, the man looked up and smiled at his achievement. He rarely was able to get some happy emotion from the boy, and was counting every time he managed to do so. The boy was always so serious, determined and even wise, so much that he, most of the time was forgetting that he was still a child. But every time he saw this small body, this little frame that he hasn't seen uncovered for years, he remembered, and it hurt him to know, to see, that he failed in his attempts to save him.

-"Quite the contrary, I _want _shinobi to know that I am here. I _wait_ for some of them to come. And having these genin around is… amusing, to say the least."-Unseen to the world, under the hood formed a small smile.-"And one of them, I find very interesting."

The dark eyes narrowed and the smile on the face of the white haired man disappeared.

-"Oh yeah? Well, which one is it?"-he asked trying to sound amused, but his voice betrayed him and the question even to him seemed too serious, which made him cringe.

-"Hmmm, are you worried? Don't be, I don't plan anything."

The reply sounded unnaturally innocent. The man looked away and grimaced. Inwardly he thought "Last time you didn't make plans too, and this topic is still a taboo. I better ask Kakashi who picked your interest… God knows I don't want the history to repeat itself."

-"You sure you can trust him, or… maybe it's her… un?"-The man inquired and grinned widely, a sign that he'd be happy if his student was finally interested in girls. He raised his head and turned it so it seemed he placed his ear in direction of a coming reply. Unfortunately for him, it never came, and he could somehow imagine the twitch of a brow, or an eye, under that damned hood.

* * *

The black haired boy and his morning chubby companion sat on the stairs and intently stared on the ground, perfectly still, as if any move they make will destroy something important. On the steps, by their feet, a small black object was moving. It was an eight-legged spider, made of ink; it walked controlled by its maker very slowly.

It started with Choji asking if birds, big cats and snakes were the only creatures that Sai used in his technique. The boy answered that those were the most practical, and Choji said that the small animals and insects could be good too, because it would be harder to notice them. And then Sai started to draw, first was a mouse, and then was a fly (a complete failure), an ant that was hard to control because of its small sizes, and a spider they currently watched.

-"Not bad."-Choji whispered as a smile appeared on his face.-"It looks real, and it doesn't have to be fast too. I mean, it depends on what it'd have to do."

The pale boy nodded, and strangely, he had no false expression on his face. He didn't smile, or grimace, he was calm, concentrated, and… if you looked closely, you'd notice the gleam in his eyes, the fire, that could not be hidden, you'd see, that Sai was excited. Unbelievable sight, but Choji smiled at that. And then he believed, believed that he could not only complete the training given to him, but he could also help this person.

-"I only noticed now, but where is your team Ak… Choji? And why are you up so early, I thought your team was lazier than Kakashi-san."-asked Sai as he turned to look at the genin. He was simply curious about his observations.

-"They're asleep."-Replied the boy as he turned away, and seemed… embarrassed?-"I just… didn't sleep well, so… I decided to get up and busy myself with something…"

-"Bad dreams?"-Asked Sai as he tilted his head to the side, with unreadable expression on.

Choji looked at him and gulped. "Is he mocking me? Or is he _that_ much antisocial…? What's with that expression? Does he even know what he looks like doing that…?"

-"Well… yeah."-Choji looked down at the still walking spider and sighed. -"Ugh, I… think that scary kid with a gourd had that… effect on me. And… our client is… strange, frightening and all. I mean, I got stressed and I guess that's the result."

-"Oh."-Was a quiet reply. The artist watched his companion curiously, as if he didn't understand what could be scary, and what stress is. While Choji tried hard to seem to be observing the ground, praying that his act was convincing, and Sai will not ask him questions he will have no chance of answering.

-"Then you must be a coward."

On the pale face was stretched a wide creepy smile. While still locked on the ground, the eyes of the boy widened, and he gulped, not knowing how he should react, get angry because he was insulted, get embarrassed because it may be true, or keep quiet and see where it goes?

-"Books say that this is not a good thing, because it's opposite to courage."

The chubby looked up.

-"Books?"

* * *

The dinning room was filled with noise. It was a time for a breakfast, and ninja sat by a table, slowly waking up. Food was not special, some rice, vegetables and tea. Somehow everyone already knew that Choji had nightmares that night, Sai was keeping him company this morning, the sand ninja came and left almost unnoticed and Kakashi woke Asuma too early without a reason. Surprisingly, the girls, Ino and Sakura, talked to each other. The topic was not important (diets and hair style, or importance of sunburn cream), the fact that they spoke to each other was shocking. After all, everybody believed the hatred between them existed for years. And it was a miracle that they didn't pay attention to a boy they fought over, who tried to stay as far as possible.

To watch this scene came a strange man, with the long white hair, colorful clothes, sandals and a big scroll on his back. He glanced at the jounin, Sarutobi seemed pissed to him, and Kakashi, who sat reading next to him, and who Asuma glared at every few seconds, was probably the reason. The kids by a table were genin, one strange and suspicious, pale and unreal. Everything about him was false, and those clothes… what did he mean by wearing that? Not this one. There were the girls, nice looking, but too loud, and not serious enough… definitely not. The warmly smiling fatty boy, Akimichi, was too kind and too soft. Oh, here something familiar, the eyes narrowed in thought, the fingers slim and long. Who's that? And another one, next to him, oh, Uchiha brooder… very interesting, which one of them was it? Probably this kid, Sasuke, he's supposed to be a prodigy, a genius. So he wouldn't be surprised if his student was interested in the heir.

The kid he didn't remember the name of looked up, and his gaze pierced Jiraya's heart. Was this a Nara? Probably, he looked very alike his father… But there was also something that Jiraya himself saw rarely. The sharpness, that was inside. For a moment, their gazes locked, and the kid dared to challenge him with a stare. As if he asked "If want to say something just do it."

The man directed his gaze to the jounin, and asked them to accompany him on his walk to the main entrance.

* * *

Something fell with a noise. And then, a shout. Someone was screaming? The boy with a long scarf and a goggles on his head sighed and inwardly prayed that he doesn't have to wake up from his sweet sleep. But something hit him on the head.

-"Wake the hell UP Konohamaru!!! Or you will stay after lessons!!!"

Was a loud order. The boy opened his eyes and quickly straightened in his seat when he noticed he was sleeping on his desk in the class.

-"Sorry Iruka-sansei! I was up at five in the morning and didn't get much sleep!"

The teacher raised a brow at the proclamation and scratched the scar on his nose.

-"What were you doing that early?"

The boy was red as tomato as he sheepishly scratched his head closing his eyes.

-"I… um, well… was training my flames of… youth…?"-Was a quiet and hesitant response and he really, really couldn't think of any other answer at the moment.

The juunin had a twitch of a right brow at that. "I will not be the one to deliver these news to Hokage-sama. Kami-sama protect this boy from the beast, and… protect these idiots from Hokage's wrath…"

* * *

End of 6 chapter

I know there's not much 'action' in this story, and I have to warn you that I am not an action type, though it doesn't mean there will be no action at all.

I hoped you liked it and want more. So don't be **GREEDY! **Share! With your opinion**!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

-"You're LATE!"

-"No I am not."

-"What, you now deny that?"

-"Yeah."

-"So?"

-"So what?"

-"Where's your pathetic exuse?"

-"......."

No exuse, but here's the new chapter!

'Thank you' to everyone who reviewed so far! Your support is greatly appreciated!

As always both of my stories are updated on the same date. Have fun!

-"Speech."

"Thoughts."

_Emphasis_ on the word

* * *

Chapter 7 bittersweet temptation

She concentrated on her body, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, she imagined her chakra flow down her feet, and then, feeling that she was ready, she made a step forward.

Feeling that she still stands, she made another step, and calmly stood observing her feet. After a minute or so, she made two more steps with some confidence, believing that she made it, and on her face appeared a small smile. She raised her arms and carefully walked ahead, now knowing that she can make it. She was ready to laugh at her accomplishment when

-"Oh shit, you _did_ it Forehead!"-Was a loud shout from behind her, which startled her and loosing her focus, she fell… right into the water under her.

The wide splash and a scream later, from underwater emerged the pink haired head, with a twitch of the temple and dark waves of madness. The girl slowly turned around and let her dark waves fall over the intruder.

-"Give me one reason not to kill you right now, Ino-pig."

The blonde who stood on the bank gulped and nervously smiled.

-"Um… don't be mad…I' m still wet myself, see?"-The blond pointed at her purple clothes that still clung to her after she fell into water failing in the attempt to walk on it.

They were not too far from the waterfall, that was used in training the body and mind of monks, the river that flowed here was transparently clear, and the place in its self seemed a piece of heaven. The trees and bushes here were not as high as in Konoha forest, but one would dream of living in this place.

Not far away from the scene, the other genin were trying to water walk too, though, with far less success. It appeared that as with the trees, the less are chakra reserves, the more precise control over them, and like always, the girls had the smallest reserves. The Uchiha and Akimichi heirs were the least successful, and surprisingly, Sai already knew the exercise, so he simply sat leaning on the nearby tree observing the rest.

The blonde girl looked at her teammates, Choji was panting and decided to take a break, while Shikamaru stood on the bank with his bare feet in the water, as he stared at his reflection on the surface. To her, the lazy teammate was behaving strangely, not only today, it started on this mission, and she had a suspicion that the monk they were supposed to guard was responsible for this somehow. She narrowed her eyes and thought that if they were to spy, she has a right to expand her training and 'add' another target or two…

Five hours of training were boring and tiring, after a dinner, whining and complaining, they joined the monks' taijutsu training, supervised by Asuma, who lost the unknown bet to Kakashi.

* * *

Somewhere in the rice country

Underground in the darkness of a labyrinth, one figure strode with a lit candle in hand, seemingly not having any emotions, nor care. It was a man, who possessed confidence and skill, which he hid for his secret intentions. He had glasses on, and his hair was in the low tail, while the candle light warmed his pale white skin.

He silently entered the room, as not to be noticed, and started to close the door, when he heard his master, who waited for him.

-"Did you find out the reason the sand jinchuuriki knew about the Kazekage's death and refused to cooperate with the council, Kabuto?"-the voice hissed, startling the glasses wearing man, and the figure emerged from the shadows and its slated eyes dangerously gleamed in the gloom.

-"Yes, I believe the leaf jinchuuriki must be responsible for this. Before the event, Gaara and his team traveled to the shrine of fire, where at the moment the mentioned resides."

-"Is that so?"

The boy nodded.

-"Also, Gaara started to make demands that the sand village seeks revenge on you, Orochimaru-sama, and joins Konoha, in the upcoming battle. We believe the sand might have sent a message with info they had, to Hokage, to inform him of the current events."

The man with a snakelike features frowned, he grimaced at the thought of someone messing with his plans.

-"Things go the wrong way..."-He said, narrowing his eyes and holding his hands in front of his face, as he stared into nothingness.

* * *

The shrine of fire

Under the wide hood appeared a smile, and then could be heard a quiet laugh. Kakashi, who sat nearby, reading his precious smut, looked up.

-"Something funny?"-He asked, looking at the monk in black, who sat cross legged with his back to him, under a statue.

-"…will have an interesting visitor soon…"

-"Ah… Do I need to get ready?"-The jounin asked as he turned back to reading.

-"Hmm, no…"

It was quiet for some time, and Kakashi considered taking a nap. He heard the voices of genin coming back from the training, and sighed.

-"Think I should hurt Asuma and tell him his students are obviously spying on me? Appear everywhere I am and ask me stupid questions? Just for a fun of it…"

-"That would be cruel."-Was a monotone reply.

-"Never said I was sweet and fluffy."

-"You keep repeating you're fair and loyal."

The jounin grimaced.-"To whom…? Never said such a thing."

-"To yourself, obviously."

-"What, you read my mind now, Naruto-sama? What next, I find out the God does not exist?"

-"You know that you're just that easy to read, I don't read minds… And do you really want to know the answer to your second question?"

The jounin looked up and frowned, he made a thinking pose, placing his finger to his chin and sighed.

-"No, I don't. If Kami-sama exists he is ashamed of me, if not, I'd feel that life is really unfair, we're lonely, and there's no justice. Though it depends, if Kami-sama exists, then so is Hell and Heaven, and I can believe I will have a chance to meet my friends and family. If not, I don't have to worry about afterlife, but I will start to question the reasons for living…"

Under a hood, a brow was raised.

-"…or I would start to look for a reason to live, like Gaara…"-he added.

-"You need a rest, Kakashi."

* * *

The late evening, an old monk with a long white beard and a lit candle in hand knocked on the door. The chubby boy opened it with a frown.

-"Yes?"

-"Good evening."

The old man said with a smile and looked inside the room, he slightly bowed to the other occupant.

-"Naruto-sama wishes to see you, young man."

Shikamaru nodded and put on his sandals. He strode to the door.

-"Do you want me to show you the way?"-the monk asked.

-"No need to, I remember, thank you."-the boy replied and walked out into the corridor, not followed, not noticing the worried look his friend gave him.

He was… glad. He wanted to come himself, but felt it was inappropriate, as he had no real reason to do so. Even though he knew that his teacher wouldn't like that, he still walked there eagerly. He was more than curious, his attention was _captured_ fully. That was new to him, because there was nothing and no one he wanted to know so much before; as if all his life until that moment was boring and not worth living. As if he now woke up and actually wanted to live.

He made a step inside and noticed that Asuma was there too. He already switched with Kakashi? He calmly nodded to his teacher and walked farther hiding his uneasiness, feeling a gaze on his back. He soon appeared beside the black covered person, who raised the right hand in a gesture, the dark eyes of the guest instantly fell on the beads, that were red, white and gold in color, that hung on the wrist.

-"Sit down."

He did, carefully, in a similar way.

-"You ask a lot of questions yourself lately."

The boy looked down and away.

-"I'm not sure if I should ask anyone else."-He said, not sounding convinced in his own speech.

-"You can ask me."-Voice sounded kind, and soft. Shikamaru looked up slowly and stared at the unmoving person. Then he tilted his head a little and glanced at his teacher. He considered asking what made his sensei to be suspicious and what part of it belonged to the monk. He wanted to ask, who was given the permission to touch first, and where he… or she was, because somehow he didn't believe it would be Hokage. He was curious… he wanted to ask how he could know things he shouldn't. He wanted to know what the toad hermit was doing in the shrine, why he hid his looks and… Too many questions… and most of them seemed too personal… to him, at least. He didn't feel in place, to ask those. It would be more logical to ask about himself, but at the same time illogical to ask someone what they thought of you when they didn't know you… But he's a monk; he could help him sort out at least one thing.

-"I… feel like I've woken up."-He looked on the floor. "-I want… to fight. To be strong, not 'the strongest, the most powerful' crap… just… to be always strong enough…I've never, ever, had these kind of desires, hell, I've never wanted anything."-His smile was bitter, as if his previous life seemed ridiculous. –"Somehow… this seems wrong to me; like I shouldn't, want anything. It's as if I can be another person but I am not sure I can trust that person… as if I could become someone I loathe."

-"You're scared of changes."-He was told. That made him even more doubtful, and he laughed quietly but that sound was empty of emotions.

-"Probably…"

* * *

The one eyed jounin stopped in the corridor on his way to his room, and lazily raising a brow, looked behind. His book still in hand he turned on the heel and strode in the opposite direction, where he felt the chakra of one of the students. "Shouldn't Ino sleep already? She and Sakura were very tired after training today. What is she doing there? Spying? If my memory is correct, then her team must spy on my students and me. Oh… maybe she thinks that I am still there? Not a good choice of time and place for that action. Too obvious, and unplanned, I think. Well, let's see her expression when she sees I'm not there." He thought as he used an average genjutsu to hide his presence.

The blonde girl silently crouched by the doors and glanced around to make sure for the last time that she was alone by the hall. Then she held her breath and nervously leaned with her head and shoulder to the door, to eavesdrop using her left ear. She frowned and closed her eyes to concentrate, and added a bit of chakra to her ears. Hidden by the illusion and observing the scene, Hatake raised a brow, and tilted his head back a bit, as if asking himself if he should do anything about it. "What, she thinks we talk there about personal stuff a lot?" That thought created a twitch of his eyelid. He placed his smut back in the pouch and almost made a step toward her when he stopped and frowned. Slowly, carefully he turned to the doors, stared at them and a minute later on his face appeared a scowl.

* * *

-"Water?"-Asked a boy not understanding.

-"Yes, what do you know about water, how do you feel it."

Shikamaru gave him a strange look that said "How am I supposed to 'feel it'?"Then his right hand scratched his neck as he thought about what he knew, and he knew that simple answer 'wet, cold or warm' will not satisfy the monk. There was more to it. Like the nature of this element and its heart.

-"Well… it's soft…when it's calm. And it's strong… when it turns into the storm. It can be kind and warm, or cold and… merciless. It can save the life… or take it."

The hooded figure slightly nodded.

_Inserted Flashback 6 years ago_

_-"What do you know about fire."-Asked the monk a person behind him, who stood not moving, nor speaking. The question caused the person to look up with a slight frown behind the mask._

_-"The fire…burns. It… hurts. It is anger, hatred, and destruction. It is power and the curse. It warms you… when you're cold…It gives you strength, and will, but keep it within for too long, and it will turn you to ashes…"_

-"Yes, and there are things you can know about it, but never be able to form them into words."

-"Like what?"

The monk raised his left hand, and opened the palm. The boy looked down and his eyes searched, but couldn't find what he was supposed to see, until in the middle of it, appeared a drop of water, clear, like a tear, and shiny, then a second one, and the third, they raised a bit over the palm and started the irregular dance in the air, as more and more drops appeared. Then they started to connect, and combine together, forming the water sphere.

_-"Fire is one of the hardest elements to control, though, that's why it is the strongest."-Said a cloak covered figure, as in its right palm, appeared a flame that burned brightly in the dark room._

The dark eyes widened and mesmerized, observed the bluish sphere that could be described as waves that crashed together in the limited space. He gulped, when the hand rose higher, as if encouraging him to touch it. And hesitantly, with a shaking hand, he reached to that orb, and let his fingertips brush against its surface, feeling the chakra, and water inside it, possess emotions, unknown to him, indescribable, strong, even loud, but so natural, and wild.

_In the darkness, the person made a step closer, and another, until he was beside the monk. And to see more clearly, he didn't hesitate to take off the mask, and crouch. In this person's eyes, could be seen the reflection of that flame, its sparks, red and yellow, and though small, it lit the space between the two._

The sphere dissipated, and the palm closed. The hand slowly, almost unwillingly, retreated back into the sleeve, and the boy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He still stared at the space, where the sphere had just been, and tried to understand the emotions, that it possessed and showed to him.

-"Amazing…"-He whispered.

-"Think you can find these emotions again yourself?"

-"Huh?"-The boy looked up.-"Oh… I… will try."

The girl skillfully stood up and crawled into the corridor, she used all of her stealth training to not get noticed, and not looking behind, she walked silently back to her room.

He was already sleepy. The whole shrine became completely silent. He narrowed his eyes in hopes to see more clearly through the shadows and gloom of the corridor, and strode the way he remembered. Then suddenly, he felt the wind from behind, but turning around, he didn't see anything suspicious. Where this paranoia came from? He frowned and decided to continue on his way, glancing at every corner he passed suspiciously, and almost reacting at every sound that he heard nearby. Turning on his way he saw that he was almost there, when suddenly he felt like someone grabbed him from behind, and not even the second later he saw leaves swirling around him, which after he realized that he was outside of the shrine, "shunshin…?" He could barely see where he was, just that there were trees, and the building was probably too far to be seen. But before he could turn around, from behind he was harshly pushed on the ground. Now he knew he had to react fast, because it looked like he was in trouble, he narrowed his eyes and started to push himself up from the ground. The kick in the stomach sent him farther rolling in the dirt. It hurt, there was force behind it. For a several seconds he lost ability to breathe, though the pain was not as troubling as fear. Then he coughed again and again, feeling the salty and metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He gulped, he knew that his attacker will see him reaching for a kunai on his calve, or trying to make hand seals for a jutsu, what to do? He decided to look behind to at least see this person, only to be grabbed by the neck from behind and thrown forcefully at the base of the tree. It hurt too… damn, why's it so dark. He regretted not wearing more than a mesh shirt and regular shirt… "remember to change that soon…" he thought to himself as he grimaced. He opened his eyes and at the same time the attacker's hand was around his neck, pushing him back to the tree's base. His reflexes caused him to raise his hands to his neck but he stopped when he saw the face of a person. In front of him, with a madness and almost hatred, the jounin gazed into his face. And though he was surprised, and even shocked, he realized that he should have known. It didn't happen out of nowhere, it had its reason, reason he didn't know, yet. The scowling face of the one eyed jounin leaned closer to his.

-"Well, speak."-The voice strangely didn't appear to match the mood of the ninja, as it almost sang. Or maybe it was part of madness… where after or before killing the victim, a person laughs hysterically?

The boy gulped and frowned. For a full minute they stared at each other, waiting. The jounin let go, he took his hand away but didn't take a step back. He observed as a genin breathed heavily and stared at him without understanding, but there was also determination. There was a promise of not turning back whatever happens, even if there also was fear.

-"I don't like your relationship with Naruto-sama."-The jounin said, as if he explained his behavior.

"Now that… makes sense somewhat. Asuma-sensei didn't like it too, but he kept it to himself, while Kakashi is not the person to just stand and watch… he's overly protective. And if he thinks I make trouble for his charge… I am dead? Not a good start… The question is _not _how am I supposed to react to this, but how am I supposed to explain myself so that he leaves me be. Come on, Nara, think!"-Thought the boy as he coughed again.

-"Didn't know about your personal likes and dislikes, Kakashi-san."-The boy started.-"If… if you don't mind me asking… what was the reason for your reaction to that _relationship_?"

The jounin narrowed his eyes.

-"Carefully playing around, Shikamaru? There are things you don't need to know; just stay away from him and everything will be fine."

Feeling that he's done, the jounin put his hands in pockets, and made a step aside.

-"No it will not."-Was a reply.-"I'm not refusing what I'm given."-The boy spit to his left, turning away from the jounin. The man stopped and glared at the kid.

-"Oh, and what were you given?"-Asked the man in the mocking tone.

-"The chance, for trust, for truth and knowledge."-He replied and wiped his mouth with the back of his left hand.

-"And what if you won't use it correctly?"-The jounin turned to him tiredly and sighed.

-"Never."

-"Never say 'never'."

Shikamaru took a deep breath and looked away.

-"I always try to make right decisions, without regrets."

-"We all do."-Hatake looked down on the ground in thought.-"I'll… give you a chance."-He raised his hand when the boy looked up.-"But, only one. There is no second, or anything else, you got that?"

The boy nodded.

-"Good."

The man strode away, with Shikamaru following him back to the shrine, with only darkness, winds and the sound of their steps accompanying them.

* * *

Up in the blue sky flew the white fluffy clouds, and the universe seemed peaceful. And under the sky was the green grassy field, that could be described as paradise, here and there the bushes with flowers created the picture full of colors, and it was even more beautiful when animals started to appear. Bunnies, deer, birds, butterflies…

-"You!"

"Where this shout came from? I turn around."

-"Train me!"-Was a demand made by a boy in black shirt and black shorts, his eyes were red, as he unceremoniously waited for something he was sure he will get.

-"Huh?"

-"I need POWER! To kill my brother and anything else that stands on my way! Train me!"

"I look down on him and raise a brow. Does he even know who I am to ask that? What a brat! I cross my arms."

-"No, Sasuke. You already have a teacher, you don't need another one, and I don't need a student at all."

-"You think it will stop me? I won't stop! I will get POWER!"

The upper body rose from the bed and Chiriku opened his eyes to see it was the sunrise.

-"I swear, children these days…"

End of chapter 7

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**A. N. **I am sorry for being late. No excuse here. But the new chapter is done, and I hope you will like it, dear readers.

-"Speech."-

"Thoughts."

_Flashback_

Chapter 8 If the curse you give is a blessing

The path was narrow. It seemed that it was supposed to make you feel small, too small to suit in here. The cold floor made of stone, as well as walls, had a strange grey, or bluish color, and if you touched it you'd find it smooth, almost wet of coldness and darkness of this place. There was no light, not in the slightest. It seemed dead. To the right, were bars, and if it was even possible, the space behind them was even darker.

The calm and confident steps were taking one man farther, deeper into unknown. Though, he knew what there was to see.

He paid no mind to whispers and whimpers from behind the bars that he passed on his way. He knew it all too well. Those whispers were prayers, those words were muttered by beggars, those pleads were of death, loneliness, hatred. On their knees, unable to see, or hear anything but the painful mumblings of those who had the same fate as them, they wanted to die, no matter if it would be fast or long and painful, if it was mercy or torture.

What else there was to wish for? When you know that officially you are dead anyway… Those who know of your existence don't care, don't even know your name, because here you have a number, don't know your face, because in this darkness the only thing that differ you from the rest is chakra, don't speak to you and don't touch you. This is meaningless existence, in nothingness. The cruelest punishment and fate that is given to those, who do not deserve understanding, mercy or forgiveness.

The man stopped by one of the countless bars and looked inside. He made a step closer, supporting himself with a cane, and calmly spoke.

-"I have a use for you."

* * *

The shrine of Fire

The pink haired girl yawned as she rose from her bed and glanced around. She scratched her left shoulder, through the fabric of her big white t-shirt that she wore for the night. The morning was already here and she could see the particles of the dust slowly dance in the air. The bed to the side, by the wall, made a sound of shifting and she saw her roommate turn and glance at her.

-"Morning, Forehead."

-"Same here, Ino-pig."

The blonde sighed and sat up, reaching for her gum under the pillow, and uncaringly gathered her locks into the loose ponytail.

Sakura hesitated, but then she scowled and asked

-"You left the room tonight. Where did you go?"

The blonde hmmph'ed scowling and started to fold the sheets energetically.

-"What, you think I was watching Sasuke-kun sleeping?"

-"What if I do? He's my teammate, you know. Maybe I should protect him from you?" She said without a hint of humor, entering the role of the mad fan-girl.

-"Whatever you say."

-"You better not try something st…"

-"Damn, Sakura, not everything in this world is about Sasuke-kun!"

For a moment silence reined between them, as the blonde finished doing a bed and Sakura was still sitting on hers.

-"You called me Sakura… something must have really happened." After the tense silence and the freezing on blonde's part, Sakura spoke again. –"Where did you go… Ino?"

The blonde turned and took her towel and clothes, then, she stopped again. Not facing her friend, she looked down on the floor and deeply breathed in.

-"It's… about Shikamaru."-Sakura looked puzzled and frowned, she opened her mouth but the blonde continued.-"He… behaves strangely…"

Ino raised her clothes in her hands and pressed them to her body, and then she looked at her friend.

-"You have a good memory, Sakura. What do you know about that monk, Jinjuuriki of Konoha?"

The pink haired girl raised her brows higher than usually and spaced out for a moment, traveling deeper into her memories to find the answer. She frowned and looking up slowly scratched her head.

-"You know, I remember two things, it was usually said in hushes and whispers, when people were reluctant in voicing their thoughts or the rumors. The first is about Hokage-sama ordering anbu to hide some demon from people's eyes. Those who said that kept repeating that they wished someone killed it instead. The other thing was… about a man. I remember a neighbor asking my mother if she knew how could be arranged a meeting with a man that resided in a shrine by Konoha. The thing is… he supposedly possessed some unbelievable knowledge. And that shrine, of forgiveness, was built quite a long time ago, some…fifty years I think… And it was abandoned when monks moved to Konoha or other, more important shrines in the Fire country. It was in use again, for that… mysterious person, but no one was allowed to enter without a permission or invitation…" For a moment she was quiet, thinking hard if there was anything else, then she asked –"Why?"

After scratching her nose and stopping herself from speaking the girl sighed and strode to her bed, where she sat and glanced at the door. Knowing that no one would be eavesdropping she faced her friend.

-"I followed Shikamaru, he visited the monk, and they talked about something, I couldn't hear, but that monk showed him something and… I don't know… I just… don't like it. Shikamaru is changing… and I think, I know, this monk is the reason."

They sat in silence, lost in thought, as light of the sun reached the door.

-"What will you do about it?"

-"I am not sure yet. Um, maybe I'll talk to Asuma-sensei. But, he said that Kakashi-san knows more about that monk."

-"I'll see if I'll find an occasion to ask him this and that, don't worry, we'll think of something, Ino." –Sakura smiled looking up, trying to reassure her friend.

At this moment Asuma stood by the entrance to the shrine, nervously smoking while his gaze was stuck on the road, and he hummed in a deep voice trying to calm himself. Behind him were the most presentable students, Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru, both too tired to be mad at being woken up so early. Sasuke didn't even have the strength to glare at the Nara, who sat on the stairs, letting his heavy head rest on the palm of his right hand as it was supported by his raised knees, he himself stood with the arms crossed, but would sit down too, if he hadn't an image to keep. It wouldn't do, to sit near the lazy ass like the lazy ass.

Shikamaru didn't bother to show any interest in what was to come. He wanted to sleep, but he wasn't stupid, even if he didn't want to, he knew, he knew that they waited for a visitor, and it was probably someone important, because his teacher was nervous, and they were supposed to 'make a good impression'. The question is who is coming. He let his sleepy eyes travel on the form of the other genin and noticed that Sasuke was mad and dead tired; it was amusing, so Shikamaru smiled. Who'd think that the noble heir is pretty human… He thought a lot on how to get close to such a lonely, distant, closed and distrustful fellow. The problem is, he has no hints on what Sasuke likes, dislikes, wants or hates. Al right, Sasuke likes jutsus, dislikes fan girls, wants to be a strong ninja and probably hates the person that killed his family. But… it is nothing that they could share; there is nothing that could connect them. Shikamaru is not crazy about power, he has no fan club, and he's not after some unnaturally powerful shinobi that killed his family that will most likely kill him the moment he shows up… well, maybe Sasuke doesn't even know who killed his family. The whole affair was dealt with quietly before villagers knew any details… Anyway, the problem is he has no reason to even start the conversation… and observing Uchiha is quite a boring thing to do, believe it. Yeah, sure there are emotions all written on the face as well as habits, pretty easy to read by the way, but all of this doesn't help in 'getting to know Sasuke'. And to add the salt above the thing, it's no secret that Nara Shikamaru is a lazy ass that will not even mumble a word to you out of nowhere. So if he makes the sound in direction of Uchiha, it will be immediately assumed as 'suspicious'. God bless Yamanaka Ino to start gossiping with Sakura, or 'Sasuke-kun' will forever remain a mystery…

On the horizon ahead, as if on the picture, appeared the group they were supposed to greet. Under the blue sky with the fluffy small clouds, and under the arc created by the heavy branches of the trees from the both sides of the road for travelers, was seen the procession. Ahead of the group were walking the guards, they were ninja from Konoha that had a mission to protect the client, though their clothes were too bright… the only thing indicating they were shinobi were their headbands. Behind them was a… chamber. Decorated with silver, gold, wood and white silks, it was on the arms and shoulders of eight men, who stoically traveled down the road, bringing their master to the destination. The rest of shinobi followed the procession keeping their eyes open, knowing that they could be attacked.

Inwardly Shikamaru sighed; he was convinced now that they were greeting some councilmen, or someone from the Daimyo family. Only really, really noble people wanted to and had to travel like that. It was idiotic, everyone will see that there's something or someone important inside. You could write 'I am rich and I travel far from home so come and get me' on a big board above your head and get just the same result.

They stood and patiently waited. Asuma finished his cigarette and straightened, Sasuke didn't change his facial expression, and it was still the same indifference with which he covered his emotions. Who gave him this example of shinobi behavior was another question Shikamaru asked himself as he stood beside the said Uchiha in line and tried to turn his tiredness and exaggerated sleepiness and calmness into disciplined behavior of a good student.

Procession reached them and turned, so that the entrance covered by white and yellow silk curtains was right in front of them. Out of it, slowly walked an aged, grey haired bearded man. He was quite tall, the hairs on his head were short, but his beard was wide and longer. His clothing was white, long, and the belt he wore was the art of jewelry, heavily decorated and shiny.

-"Kahoro-sama, welcome to the shrine of Fire, I hope the road was uneventful." -Said Asuma bowing to the waist, the genin followed his example.

-"Oh, Asuma, how are you? Did you regret going back to Konoha?"-The man asked with a smile.-"The road was boring…though I am still excited."

-"I am happy the way I am, Kahoro-sama, thank you. We're prepared for your visit, please follow me."

They nodded to each other and followed by genin and the guards started to walk inside the shrine.

-"Isn't it the first time he traveled from Konoha?"-Asked the man looking around.

-"It is. We were all surprised with his decision. I thought Daimyo-sama would come too."

The man sighed and slightly scratched his chin.

-"He's busy, and it's not the first time I take care of my brother's interests outside."

Asuma nodded and they entered the main hall. The guards and genin stopped by the doors and stood still. The jounin led the man farther and stopped by the monk. He bowed again and joined the group by the doors, giving the two some privacy.

The man in white robes stood behind the sitting black cloaked figure and when he saw that the jounin was far enough, he started to speak.

-"I am quite surprised you wanted to see me. Usually we have to ask for your audience several times before we get the permission. It is the first time I get invitation."

The figure was silent for some time, and shifting somewhat in his position, replied in a whisper.

-"Your brother's wife is ill. She will die soon. It will place the mental health of your brother into… debatable state."

The man was frozen, but he didn't want to look weak, he deeply inhaled and made a few steps aside, analyzing the forming situation.

-"There are few of advisors that will try to take his place, manipulating the social groups through the ordeal of choosing his successor."

The man sighed and turned around, looking at the figure of a monk.

-"That is nothing new, it always happens."

-"I can… suggest and support your candidature."

The man raised a brow and scratched the corner of his lips with a thumb. He turned again and started to walk left and right slowly, getting lost in thought. The jounin observed him with narrowed eyes, and after licking his lips in a habit before smoking, he reached for a pack. The genin noticed that by the walls sat four monks, two on either side. They looked identical, all of them in orange robes, bald and with long red beads around their necks. They sat cross-legged and the fingers of their hands formed identical seals, their eyes were closed, and it even seemed they didn't move in hours, joining the statues they sat by. The lights of candles flickered creating a short synchronized dance.

-"That's an… interesting offer, why? What are conditions?"

Under the hood appeared a smirk. Of course; no man would refuse such an offer; to have the well known monk, advisor and respected jailor of a demon on your side when people are looking for a leader. Once they hear who supports him, he will win that battle before the voting starts.

-"For starts, Asuma will give you a file, which contains the few things I ask of you. I have no doubts you will agree with the majority of my actions and decisions. I can even go so far as to say that this won't differ from our current relations, call it partnership. The only things to change are your title and influence."

The man absently nodded, realizing that he is well aware of what is required from the Daimyo, he saw a lot and more. He can easily take the position. And Naruto never lied to him or his brother, and never asked of them something they didn't wish to do. That was a win-win situation, and it would be stupid to refuse. Those conditions couldn't possibly be uncomfortable. What would Naruto ask for? More missions for Konoha ninja? Money? Influence? Something like artifacts or special visitors at most? Nothing he cared that much for or couldn't give.

-"Truth to say, I am surprised."-He stopped behind a monk and looked at him.-"I won't lie to you; I have no intention to disagree. Your plans satisfy me greatly. Though, I must ask if there is a chance for my brother to avoid his fate."

He glanced up and waited.

Silence only proved that there was no chance for his older sibling. He sighed closing his eyes and his hands slowly formed the tight fists. He will lose someone close to him again. He will have to live with it again.

-"I am sorry for your coming loss, but the only thing we can do is move forward."

Kahoro looked down on the floor and let his tense body relax. His blue eyes seemed older. The little spark they had before the meeting disappeared. But he was strong enough to deal with fate. It chooses who is first or the last to leave. His time, it seems, hasn't come yet. And he still had things to do.

He nodded and without a word turned to the exit. He strode to the doors thoughtful.

The group of ninja led and followed him outside, where Asuma took papers from under his vest and handed them to a politic figure. The aged man sadly smiled taking them and entering his chamber. The procession took formation again and silently moved back the way it came, losing the beauty it possessed in the beginning. Even the sky gave the signs of a coming rain. The cold wind was harsh as if it was disappointed and angered.

"No coincidence. He knew. But how…Could it be Jiraya? What is in that folder?" Thought Shikamaru as the group was getting smaller and smaller, finally disappearing from view. He chanced a glance at his teacher and couldn't interpret the narrowed gaze he sported. And Sasuke openly stared through the entrance of the shrine. His eyes tore through the walls searching, placing his determination on the goal of knowing the truth; he gazed inside, as he didn't possess curiosity, but simple wish of knowing answers. That wish in a sick way merged with his coldness and anger, turning his desires into fierce power of hatred for everything that stood against him. He was so much alike that Gaara boy that it was becoming scary. The attitude of 'give me what I want or I'll kill you' would one day destroy him. Destroy him completely, taking away his humanity, his heart and soul. It was so easy to see. It was so painful to know… Was it hunger? Was Sasuke hungry for knowledge and power? What will he do with it once he gains it? What he needs power for…

The raven haired boy made two steps up the stairs with confidence and determination.

-"You are angry."

The comment from the lazy genin stopped him. He turned around to see him still looking at the horizon as his back was turned to the shrine. What he said that for? What it had to do with anything?

The few drops of water fell from the sky, leaving the dark markings on the earth. One of them, fell on Sasukes face, under his left eye, and it looked like he cried. It didn't suit him, and Asuma observed as another drop fell on his forehead, it slid down on his nose, and stopped there stubbornly, almost pulsing.

-"You shouldn't visit him if you are angered. He wouldn't like that."-Continued Shikamaru.

-"Like I care."

-"You should."-Shikamaru slowly turned around and his narrowed stare bore through Sasukes barriers. There was warning in there, and hostility. His wet look seemed in place. The streams of water cupped his face and in all his calmness he appeared almost intimidating. –"Because otherwise, I would have to stop you."

Sasuke stared for a minute; he knew that one shadow technique was enough to stop him, so he didn't feel like fighting. But the way Nara spoke to him in a threatening manner made him realize that perhaps, he found a rival, someone who stood up to him, who could go against him. It pleased him in some way, and he openly smirked. It lacked its usual wickedness and Sasuke slowly walked back inside the shrine.

Shikamaru followed him with his eyes, understanding that he stopped Sasuke from acting on impulse. Asuma glared at the sky, not liking the weather in the least and hummed. He and Shikamaru looked at each other in wonder.

* * *

Konohagakure, Hokage office

-"He did what?!"-Shouted the white haired man as he stood in the middle of the room.

The aged man by the desk sighed and pressed his fingers to his eyes, cursing his tiredness.

-"Look, it's an old case, Jiraya. He knew that they were traitors. What were we supposed to do? Other than interrogate, use and kill them? I don't know how their kid found out about the order but he became dangerous. We had to imprison him. And Danzou promised to take care of things. How could I know that this will backfire? Of coarse the council is now on his side! After all, this kid didn't do anything, he was just a threat we got rid of before anything happened."

The man lifted his pipe and nervously filled it with tobacco. –"Danzou is doing everything to doubt my position. He managed to convince the whole room that the prisoner is a victim. That I am under some kind of influence from Naruto-kun."-He inhaled deeply and leaned with his back to the chair.-"How can I tell these people that the prisoner was one step from becoming a murderer, when I have no proof, only words?"

Jiraya pulled his hair back from his forehead and closed his eyes in concentration.

-"So, there's a paper proof that Naruto gave the order?"

The man sadly nodded. The silence between them stretched and after scratching his chin in thought Hokage's pupil strode to the doors.

-"Give me some time and I'll see what's going on. A bit of spying never hurts."- And not waiting for reply, he left.

Sarutobi looked at his desk and picked up the document. It was an order for imprisonment of an innocent teen. Below it was signed by him and Naruto. He placed it back on his desk and slowly stood up, making a step to the window. Right through, he stared at the beautiful village, full of innocent and, as sad as it is, also dirty secrets. He remembered the day it started, when Chiriku came and told him things that soon changed the future.

_Flashback 7 years ago_

_He sat in the office and waited. He was worried. For the last two weeks Naruto didn't want to see him. He was in that small shrine nearby Konoha, guarded by ninja, but he didn't speak to anyone. Guards said that it was harder for him to focus on controlling the demon's chakra. And some of them speculated that Yondaime's seal has weakened even more. They all knew that the seal wasn't strong enough to stop Kyuubi in the first place, but the fact that it could be broken was a rumor that spread in higher rankings of shinobi in incredible speed. Just three days ago, Naruto asked to speak with Chiriku, the friend of Asuma and the priest of the shrine of Fire. Today he came, and Haruzen hoped that he will know what happened. He noticed the paperwork again, and wished he wasn't in such a distress, because he couldn't work. _

_He waited for half an hour more, before Chiriku came, softly knocking on the door._

_-"Come in."_

_The man grimly stepped in and closed the door behind him. –"Hokage-sama."_

_-"Sit down please."-The aged man in white robes gestured at the chair by the desk and picked up his pipe, preparing for a serious talk. He lit it and tiredly inhaled._

_Chiriku sighed in his sit and looked down. He touched the beads he wore around his neck and adjusted them, thinking on how to word everything. When he saw that Sarutobi was ready, he started to speak._

_-"It's Kyuubi."-He looked up to see the man's reaction, but found none. Hokage knew that it had to be the demon, who else?-"It wanted to prove to the boy that it will be free from the seal one day. It was so confident and sure of it that it decided to… show him."_

_Haruzen raised a brow and frowned. He tilted his head, waiting for an explanation._

_-"I don't know how, but it gave the boy ability to see the… future."_

_The man stared, forgetting about his pipe that was in his left hand near his face._

_-"What do you… mean? He saw the future? He saw Kyuubi getting free?"-He asked whispering the words hastily._

_The priest closed his eyes, speaking.-"He sees the future. He didn't tell me what he sees, but… it hurts him. He doesn't know what to do, and he's lost."_

_Hokage put his pipe on the table and leaned back on his chair, staring at the monk with the shocked expression. What should he think of it? Is it good or bad? What will Naruto do with it? _

_-"I suggested… that he learns how to use it to his advantage. And… sees the good side of the demon's curse. After all, every curse can be a blessing. If he knows of things that are to come, he may have a chance to prevent them from happening."-Said the priest quietly._

_For a few long minutes, a heavy silence reined between them, letting them gather themselves. The aged man finally lifted his pipe and with a sigh, let it press to his lips. Puffing, he opened his narrowed eyes and gazed at the worried monk._

_-"That… ability Kyuubi graced him with, is that a… doujutsu?"-He inquired, letting the curiosity be heard in his tone._

_-"I don't know. You must understand that he didn't show me."-The man replied, sadly smiling and letting his hand support his chin.-"But he called that ability… the nine threads of heaven. Why, I don't know."_

_Haruzen looked up at the ceiling, wondering._

_-"The nine threads of heaven, hmm… We can only guess what that means…" _

_End of flashback_

End of chapter 8

* * *

Well, one mystery less in this story... I guess everybody knows who's the first person to have a permission to touch Naruto by this point. I gave some serious hints, but let me know if you don't))))) Click the button-chan below and comment please! The more reviews the story has, the more readers will read it!


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N. **Finally, the update! No bubbling from the author! Enjoy the story))))

-"Speech."-

"Thoughts."

_Emphasis on the word or flashback_

Chapter 9 the injustice of the justified choices

The sky became darker, and wind harsher. The rain cried and shouted, accusing and blaming the earth, hitting it with its sorrow. And the earth got wet, and melted under its power. And the earth got sad and touched, and it replied with warmth and coldness, both at the same time. Under the tears of the sky, Shikamaru gazed farther, not seeing the details of surroundings, but seeing the wall of rain, gracing the previously dry ground with its pain.

Asuma continued to stand near the entrance to the shrine. He wanted to smoke but he knew he couldn't in that kind of weather. He got wet and felt discomfort, but he stayed, because Shikamaru did. His student was behaving strangely. He was focused and relaxed at the same time. He watched the rain and the horizon, and he didn't mind being soaked. Or maybe he wanted it? He didn't say. He… changed. Gone was his carelessness. He became serious, more concentrated and more… alive. He wanted something. He lived for something. It was so unlike the boy. It made him seem… older. As if he became suddenly smarter, wiser and… even free. As if all this time he was under the spell, that kept him tied and unmoving, and now someone cut the rope that held him, releasing him and letting him make the steps he was unable to take before. He was the same kid that he trained from the beginning, but only on the surface. His stare, his posture, his awareness and actions… were different. It… didn't take much to change him. One monk gave him the example of the life of the human being. One monk was his inspiration to living. And he stopped being a careless child, but became a purposeful man.

The world around is beautiful. When you look at it from the new point of view. You may see that it was created by God, and he also created its rules. You may notice many things, you may know a lot, but understanding it is different, as well as knowing what feelings it holds. You shouldn't think of water as the element of nature. It's more than that. It is… alive. It is not just a liquid you know the taste of. It is the essence of life, and it is beautiful. And even then, when you learn of it, it is still not enough to understand it. You must… love it. You must care for it, and let it love you, and care for you too. Only then you will hear it, touch it, feel it and see it truly.

Shikamaru watched the rain. And he wondered why it was angry. He _knew _it was. And he started to feel it, too. As if this anger was a part of him, and he wanted to express it, too. Is that how it is to be closer to the nature around you? Learn to feel it?

-"So… water. Your affinity."-Stated Asuma, gazing into nothing, but time after time, glancing at his student.

Shikamaru looked at the man from the corner of his eye and tried to understand what the man felt. There was nervousness in his body language, and he looked troubled. The boy didn't change his face expression; it was calm and devoid of emotion.

-"Not angry with me anymore?"-Asked the boy, looking ahead again. Asuma turned to look at him, and then lowered his gaze on the ground, seeming to be apologetic.

-"I was… _am_, rather worried."-The man replied, a moment later scratching his nose. Some drops of water fell off his fingers with that action. –"There was a… person, which meant a lot to him, and which was… close to him."-He whispered the last part, sighing. He watched the ground, gathering his thoughts, and continued quietly, almost making the words merge with the noise of the rain.-"That… person, in the end…. betrayed him, Shikamaru."-Here the man smiled bitterly, and rubbed his wet hands, looking down.-"Don't think that this person did the evil thing, or acted wrong… this person… thinks that there was no betrayal."

Shikamaru frowned, and turned to the man, puzzled. Asuma noticed that and looked back at him, shakily smiling.-"Shikamaru… that person is… convinced that he protects Naruto-san… That… those actions, that we call treachery, are… justified and correct. And yet… he did hurt Naruto-san so much… that…"-Asuma stopped and turned away, not willing to look at the boy. Shikamaru tilted his head slowly, almost scared of what was left unsaid. He… suddenly realized that there was more to reaction he received from the jounin, his teacher and… Hatake-san. In the past, there was someone, who was in contact with the monk, and the results were… bad, hurting, and they could be worse…. Devastating. And that someone… wasn't a bad person… but was… and maybe still is… wrong. That's why… Kakashi didn't want him to be close to him, because… what would stop him some day from not repeating that? What will stop him from betraying that trust, if he himself will do what he deems correct? The sudden realization of his position shocked him and became a weight on his mind, shaking his calmness and confidence. Where's a guarantee, that he will not repeat the same mistake…?

-"You were given a chance."-Whispered Asuma, looking down on the wet ground, his head was lowered, so the drops were sliding down his nose, and some of them stopped on his eyelashes, and in the corners of his mouth. His sandals, as the boy's, became dirty, as the water mixed with the dust that was on them previously, and some sand and even small stones, got inside the shoes and between their toes.-"You are not going to repeat those mistakes, if you listen to what he says. Don't listen to your superiors, your Hokage. Don't listen to _me_, when the time comes. Listen to what _he_ says, what he asks of you, and everything will be… fine."-The man trembled somewhat, and the bitter smile he sported became softer.-"But trust me, if you fuck up even slightly, I am going to kill you."-He warned looking down at the face of the boy.-"And if it will not be me, than it shall be Kakashi."-He added, smirking.

Breathing out the air he was unconsciously holding in, Shikamaru relaxed his tense muscles. His teacher shook him to the core. He tapped on his insides, in a warning.

And it was what the boy was grateful for. He closed his eyes, and breathed in the air with the smell of the rain. And it was the smell he fell in love with. Because to him, that smell became suddenly the sign of freedom.

-"If I dare to do anything wrong… don't kill me."-Whispered the boy and Asuma looked at him raising a brow.-"Torture me and then cut me to pieces."

Asuma smiled warmly, and his hand rose, to pat the boy's shoulder slightly.

* * *

Grimacing, frowning and whining at the same time, Ino and Sakura gazed down at the monks that trained taijutsu under the rain. The field was turned into mud and the dirt was covering the robes of those determined, brave and strong men. Their fluid moves were repeated by Sai, Sasuke and Shikamaru, who went down to join them without question, while the girls loudly complained about the weather and refused to make a step outside of the building. Choji, who stood by them, was quiet, but his hesitance was visible, as he fought himself in unwillingness to walk down and train, and willingness to join his friend. They stood in verandah, which from the field the training was held on was well seen, and Kakashi shook his head, displeased with Sakura's behavior, while Asuma hid his face in the palm of his hand, embarrassed with the pair of his students. He was rather surprised that it was the laziest student of his that was more responsible and energetic now, but Kakashi had TWO students down there, while he had only one. That meant that he got one point in his favor.

-"Asuma-sensei, I promise I will make it up the next time, but… please, may we train… indoors today?"-Asked Choji quietly and his teacher sighed soundly, nodding, not having any other choice.

-"Yeah, we'll make it up later too, ok? Come on sensei, girls have a right for that!"-Shouted Sakura and the jounin exchanged glances tiredly, while the monks passing by them on their way to inner chambers smiled and giggled at the scene. Why not? They didn't know ninja were scared of the bad weather until today… Embarrassed even more, Asuma almost pouted at his predicament, realizing that genin were looking like civilians, kids, while he was just a bad teacher…

* * *

At first it was a surprise for him, that someone could make any kind of impression on him. He was hiding his curiosity, his reactions, and expressions, each time that happened. And each time that happened, it concerned the genin of team ten, who wasn't special at the first glance, but proved to be, in the last few days. There was something about him that you couldn't pinpoint. Was it hidden intelligence, or determination? Or maybe it was some inner strength, which you felt but could not see? He had what many ninja lacked, and it was intimidation. With one look, he could make you reconsider your next steps, forcing you into some kind of submission, where you follow his rules, despite your unwillingness to do so. So even if you know that you're stronger, faster and even smarter, you still can't help but hesitate, before acting. Sasuke learned that his coldness made people think of him as more mature, experienced and realistic person, long ago. He always looked up to his brother, knowing that he was a genius, a prodigy and people were afraid of him and respecting his power. He tried to follow in his steps, becoming just as expressionless, emotionless and cold as him. He believed that if he learns to be the perfect shinobi, he will get stronger. And yet, here he was, impressed by a mere genin, from the lower clan, with only clan techniques in his hands, and intellect to support his weaknesses, who had something inside of him, something that got him curious.

Shikamaru looked ahead, focusing on the moves. He had the urge to laugh at his own childishness, he was enjoying the pain in his arms and legs, and he was enjoying learning in the dirt and the rain. He felt like a child that was given a toy. He felt like he was kept indoors for so long that he forgot the smell of nature, the smell of earth and finally, when he was let out, he didn't care if it was in these or worse conditions, he just enjoyed the feeling of it, that is all. Never before has he dreamed of this. Never before has training seemed so exciting. And now he understood what others saw in it; Kiba, Sasuke, and other genin and chuunin he saw on the training grounds of the village, were waiting for it, loving it and enjoying. And he knew why. There was more to it than simple wish to be a ninja. There was more to it than becoming a strong shinobi. There was a reason. And each of them had their own. Some of them were alike, and some not. For example, Kiba and Shino wanted to be the best in their respectable clans, and not just the heads, or the best in their generation, but history. They were driven by their goals, and they did not lose themselves in it, because even if they still did that for themselves, partly they thought of their families and the future, where they wanted to be ready to protect it. Hinata wanted to be stronger to prove that she's not a fragile princess, a weakling, but the right, responsible and a worthy heir to her clan. She was tired of being seen as useless, and she wanted to change herself desperately. He analyzed the team eight when they were still with them on the mission, and it was easier than he anticipated. With team seven it was entirely different matter. There were two mysteries; one, the last heir to the massacred clan, and the second, a mysterious shinobi who protected the said heir. Understanding people and making their profile wasn't easy when all you knew about them were their names and few of their abilities. The best way to understand a person is to know what they want. And the only genin of that team he was sure of was Sakura. She had a crush on Uchiha, she wanted him to fall in love with her, and she has possibly noticed that she was weaker and wanted to get stronger to prove that she was worthy of his attention and love. Though, by the way she 'avoided' the physical training, he was ready to say that her 'love' wasn't more than a simple, (and he will go so far as to say 'small and stupid') crush on the boy.

Sai was… strange. It was still hard to determine the reason for his behavior, was it a traumatic experience or the emotional training…? He wasn't a bad person, there was no malice, anger or hatred seen or hidden in his actions and looks. Though, Shikamaru didn't take any risks, so he was still wary of the genin. And Sasuke himself was driven by unknown goal, and it wasn't a dream, because dreams were sweet and happy. It was a… death wish, because he poured into it his negative emotions, and all of his hatred, letting it consume him wholly. That's why he got back to the theory of him wanting to find and kill a murderer of his parents. It was logical, and understandable. But… something was nagging him in the back of his mind about the way Sasuke… existed. There was just a strange hint, which showed Shikamaru that someone in some way has led Sasuke in that direction. It was a feeling, but one Shikamaru couldn't ignore, and it joined his question about Sasuke basing his act on someone he knew. It circled around something and that something made Shikamaru restless, because he didn't like the puzzles he couldn't solve, and they were more than troublesome, they were time and thoughts consuming… A moment later Shikamaru smirked, and prepared the theory, formulating the questions...

* * *

With a twitch of a pinky brow Sakura grimaced, trying with all of her might to keep her eyes closed, while Ino quietly observed her and time after time exchanged meaningful glances with Choji, who, understanding her messages, replied to her with blinking and fearful, negative shakes of the head.

Deciding to punish their students, the jounin ordered them to meditate. They left them in a hall where some of old monks prayed and meditated, muttering some things under their breaths; Sakura, by unknown motivation did just that, crossing her legs and closing her eyes, concentrating on something. Ino wanted to use the situation to help her teammate get closer to the girl, but her attempts in encouraging him failed. They formed some sort of a circle, sitting on the floor, and the blonde gritted her teeth, irritated by the chubby boy's complexes. She took a deep breath in to calm her boiling blood and closed her eyes for a moment, which after she opened them with a smirk on her face and the glint in her orbs. She lowered her head a little and started to whisper

-"Ne, Sakura, imagine, Choji said that Sasuke-kun is a… bastard."-At this the green eyes sharply opened and widened in shock. The girl gasped and looked at the boy in front of her gaping, shocked but not angry yet. Then, moving her lips but not making a sound she looked at her blonde friend, trying to understand how a statement like this could leave Choji's mouth. Ino, seeing that she had her attention, continued-"He wouldn't tell you this personally, but he thinks that Sasuke-kun does not deserve your love, because one day Sasuke-kun will become a powerful shinobi, but he will have no heart, and that means that he will never truly love anyone."-With that, Sakura was shocked anew, and she turned to Choji, surprised at that logic. She couldn't be angry, because Choji only stated his opinion, without insulting Sasuke, but rather thinking of her and her feelings.

Under Sakura's stare, the boy fidgeted and bit his lower lip, looking down on the floor with embarrassment, wondering how to get back at his teammate for improvisation she pulled and how to act along with it at the same time. Inwardly, the blonde laughed at the scene and praised herself for putting her lazy and shy teammate in this situation, happy at getting him out of his… closet.

-"Well…"-the boy started whispering too.-"I think… that Sasuke's dream is to be the best shinobi… so he probably wants to… become an anbu. And you know how these shinobi are… heartless and icily cold… Sakura-san."-He mumbled looking back on the floor. The blonde smirked inside, amused with the fact that her teammate looked like he was ready to blush in Sakura's presence. And the Pinky blinked and looked away at his words, probably finding some truth in them. She hesitated, before turning to the duo and raising her gaze to speak.

-"No, his dream is to rebuild his clan and…"-She stopped and dropped her eyes, sadly smiling.-"…and to kill a certain man."

At her proclamation the blonde and chubby stared at her stunned, disbelieving her words. She saw their reactions and turned away, willing to disappear somewhere.

* * *

The bald man stood behind the hooded monk for what felt like eternity, making up his mind. Chiriku was silently gazing down, holding in his right hand the ends of his long beads that were on his neck. He wasn't scared or intimidated by the small monk, but he respected him, and speaking his mind could turn into insult, distrust and even lack of the said respect. He was amazed with the patience Naruto showed. He was quiet and simply waited, as if feeling or knowing, that the priest needed time before speaking. He entered minutes ago, without a smile or a greeting. Did Naruto know what he came for? He probably did. But still, he had to choose his words carefully. He was glad that the main hall was empty, leaving both of them in privacy. He raised his eyes, even though his head was lowered, and making a last glance at the beads in hands of the white statue, he spoke.

-"You still can prevent that."-He started, slowly and gently counting the beads in his hand.-"I know you can. Such a tragedy in the Daimyo family, and you let it take place? And then, you interfere in the politics. I know it's a good thing to do, when you can lead those blind people in the right direction through the darkness, but knowing of their hardships and letting it take place when you can prevent that from happening, is… confusing to me."-He finished quietly. The beads that belonged to the black clad boy stopped tapping, and Chiriku got the impression that he will get just as serious answer to his musings. The young monk shifted but there was barely any sound. Chiriku looked down and heard the soft voice

-"I do what I have to, you know that."-The man turned away; closing his eyes.-"We live in the world of shinobi. This world has the rules we must follow and I do what must be done to keep the balance. I interfere when it's needed to lead the fate of nation to the better. You know I am not interested in saving the life of someone who means nothing to the social layers and destiny or to… me. I won't waste an effort to keep alive unnecessary individuals. Politics…. Yes. What is a better way to keep the lead on people than to have a lead on their leader?"

At his words Chiriku pressed his lips together and frowned, remembering that Naruto was not a usual monk, but an advisor and political player, interested in controlling people's lives, minds and actions. He was a manipulator, more dangerous than any shinobi, and more important than a nation, while he still was on the good side of things. He could be trusted, because whatever and whenever he did, meant no harm. But still, while thinking of masses he forgot about thinking of each man separately. The priest tilted his head and opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped himself and closed his eyes. He lowered his head and after a thoughtful moment, nodded.-"I understand."-He said and with that left, not saying anything more. The black clad monk lowered his head and raised his right hand on his knee, picking the side of his prayer beads and starting to count them again, as in complete silence of the hall, he heard a low and sinister voice from the inside.

"**You love to play with humans' lives, mortal. But how long will it take for you to REALIZE that YOU are played with too? You think you can escape destiny, fate, but don't forget that UNLIKE you, Gods have control over the world in their hands."**

For a moment he was graced with silence, and the demon laughed in his head almost softly, baring his teeth in the darkness of his prison, satisfied at the lack of retort or response.

"**Your struggle AMUSES me!"

* * *

**

He considered speaking with Shikamaru, but scoffed at that, and the idea of finding Kakashi wasn't appealing. In the end, he decided to come himself, and do so without witnesses. It was late and he was tired after the training, but it was the best time, as he wouldn't be interrupted. Sasuke scowled, remembering that Shikamaru learned the water walking as the first among the group, and even Hatake was surprised at that. He hated it, when someone could do anything better than him. It made him feel weak, worthless, and he felt the rush of adrenaline at anger that gathered inside with the thought of being …less. Like, useless. He knew he was better, had more potential, he got used to it, and so he refused to let anyone think differently. It took him hours after training to learn the exercise, but he did it, if only to satisfy himself. And even then, he knew that what took him hours of sweat and effort was an easy and meaningless action for a Nara. And it irked him even more. A boy, who didn't even have the strength to listen lectures of teachers in the academy, avoided training, attention and trouble, suddenly appeared to be a talented genius that changed his views and… craved for more. Just like Sasuke himself did. And as much as he wished to get closer to him to see what more they had in common, he couldn't help but dislike that similarity, and hate a Nara for being who he was.

The darkness of the corridor unsettled him and he frowned, wondering why there were no guards by the doors to the hall. He looked behind, trying to understand a mystery, but didn't see anyone. The whole place, the whole shrine, seemed empty, devoid of life at the time of the night. Just like… the Uchiha district, since the day he was left there alone.

He looked back up at the doors, and with no hesitation grabbed the handle. He pulled the door open, and shut his eyes at the light that entered his vision. Then, narrowing his eyes, he looked inside, and adjusting his sight, saw the main hall for a first time. Wide and decorated, beautiful and calm, it did not make an impression on him. He saw these kinds of places before, when he was still a small boy, and his parents took him with them to the shrines and altars. What he was surprised about, was the fact that their… client, spent not only days, but nights here too. He asked some monk about where to find Naruto today morning, and hearing one answer, he shrugged it off. But seeing this hall, he realized that this strange boy practically 'lived' here. Why did he spend all the time in these conditions, surrounded by these walls? Was he hiding? What he prayed for? It suddenly became apparent to Sasuke that he didn't know who he was going to truly speak to.

Deadly silence met his thoughts and he focused his attention on the person by the farthest wall. If he was correct, then he was… expected.

He closed the door behind him uncaringly and strode to the monk. The sound of the tapping of beads reached his ears and he noticed that this and the echo of his steps were the only sounds in the room. As beautiful as it was, though, there were no windows. Sasuke frowned at this wondering if it was done for the safety, or the isolation of the occupants. He finally stopped by the monk, and seeing him sitting cross legged under the statue, he made the few steps further, and stopped in front of the monk. Standing over him he gazed down, preparing the questions that interested him the most.

-"You're impatient."-He heard and blinked, surprised at the statement. Was he judged? He raised a brow and then smirked; he placed his hands in his pockets, mimicking the one eyed jounin.

-"As patient as I can be."-He replied. He looked to the right and saw above his head one hand of a statue, holding the beads.-"I came to have some answers but… you probably already know that."-He continued and looked down at the hooded monk.

-"Then, what do you want to know?"-Asked the monk in a young, high voice and a quiet tone. Sasuke looked down at his right hand that was seen from under the slightly raised black sleeve. There was the source of this annoying sound. He looked closely and examined the hand he saw. The skin was pale, and that was because of the cloak he wore, hiding from the sun. The palm was wide, in comparison to the fingers, but even though they were short, they were still thin, and he frowned seeing the long nails. They were sharp, almost like claws, and black in color. It confused him somewhat… These fingers and nails caught the small stones and counted them in the air, not making unnecessary moves. He was entranced by the action and felt something between sleepiness and fear, like a prey, that was hypnotized by predator. He blinked several times, wondering what took over him and gathered his thoughts back together, trying to remember what he came for. A moment later he opened his mouth and spoke.

-"I… want to know if I will be able to fulfill my dream."

Silence was reining in the room, as Sasuke waited for the answer and with each passing second he was becoming more irritated with it. He asked quite an easy question, right? Maybe he should explain what his dream was?

-"You call a desire, to kill your own brother, a dream?"-He heard a question, instead of the answer he expected. But he noticed that the details of his wishes were known to this person. Why ask unnecessary things? Who cares what you call a dream or desire? Whatever it is, you want it, and that is what counts the most. So what if he wanted to kill someone; that was his business, right?

-"Call it however you want."-He simply said, not in the least wishing to discuss how and what should be called. He saw that the monk tilted his head, and wondered what was under the hood. Was he ugly? Maybe he had a disease that influenced his looks?

-"There's a chance, that you may do this."-Naruto informed him, and he felt some weight being lifted off his shoulders. His tense muscles relaxed, and he smiled a bit, knowing that impossible things, still could be achieved. He held his gaze on the monk and asked.

-"What exactly do I have to do for this to come true? What _is_ this chance?"

He held his breath waiting for a reply, ready to remember word after word, when a moment later he heard a quiet laugh.

The laugh was clear, soft and without a doubt caused by amusement. And it belonged to this monk. Excitement left Sasuke as he frowned at the reaction his question formed and he cringed, feeling uneasy as the echo of the laugh spread through the hall.

-"Sasuke-kun, you expect me to _guide_ you, through the obstacles to your goal? You have an insolence to ask of me such a thing…?"-The monk laughed some more and Sasuke could clearly see his body shake.-"Never."-Sasuke gritted his teeth at the response and looked away, not sure if he should feel ashamed or insulted. He wanted to retort with an argument, but the monk continued.-"Even if you were the most powerful shinobi among the nations, I would still refuse. Do you know why?"

The genin turned to look at the monk again, but was silent, knowing that his words could be thrown back at him. He wondered if that person could see his glare through that fabric, but not really caring about it, he increased the force of his gaze tenfold, willing to speak through it, rather than making a sound.

-"_I_, need Itachi _alive_."

When the words registered in his mind he was too confused to come to conclusions. He was lost in that moment and all conversation seemed like a dream, or rather, a nightmare and he made very quick steps, unconsciously, toward the doors, feeling his body shake and refuse to follow his commands. He opened one with effort and closed it behind him with trembling hands, as he panted in shock and fear. Without a word or hesitation he walked away, feeling shivers go down his spine as he almost ran to his room through the corridor. If he would've paid attention, he'd notice the two forms in the other end of the hall he passed. There were bodies of the monks that had to guard the entrance to the main hall that night; they were twisted on the floor, but not bleeding. A strange smell left the corpses and the skin changed its color from light to dark brown, and from under it were seen the veins, while their faces, with the widely opened eyes were expressing the pain and agony.

In the room Sasuke left, silence fell on the monk, and he paid attention to the small sounds of candles, as the flames flickered and danced. His fingers continued to count the beads and he did not move from his position as he spoke.

-"People with dark hearts tend to visit me in the time of the night, for some reason. It's not a coincidence, don't you think?"

From the surface of the wall emerged a head, and the yellow slated eyes that previously lingered on the doors, behind which Sasuke disappeared, now turned to look down, at the amused little monk, who wasn't surprised with the presence of an uninvited guest in the least.

-"You've been observing him all day, watching his every move."-The monk said, and paused for a moment. -"Are you disappointed, Orochimaru?"

His question followed a hiss that escaped Orochimaru's mouth, as the man scowled at the remark. He stared at the hood of the boy, as he fully emerged from the wall by the main statue and stepping down on the floor, stopped in front of the cloaked monk.

End of chapter 9

* * *

**A.N. **The snake finally crawled into the sacred place. Next chapter will show Orochimaru)))

**zevym**-you will find the answer to your question in the next chapter;

The name of the chapter 9 concerned the choices Naruto makes, using his 'gift' to manipulate people's lives, not saving them.

What do you think of Shikamaru and Sasuke? Should I make them _friends_, or _enemies_? What do you think of the progress in this story, is it _slow_, or _fast enough_?


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N. **I am so glad I finally made it! You won't believe it, before, I had to write without 'backspace' and 'enter'! But now everything works and I am happy!

**Nykon**- Thanks! I agree)))

-"Speech."-

"Thoughts." (how often do I use that...?)

_Emphasis on the word or flashback_

Chapter 10 in the shadows and in the daylight

The long tongue left the man's mouth and travelled over his lips. His glinting, yellow eyes narrowed and his body tensed, when the monk laughed at him quietly. If he knew that coming here he will be treated that way, with no respect and even laughed at, he'd rather send someone to kill this obstacle; but then again, he was too curious to stay in shadows…

The rumors said that knowledge of the fox jailor was unlimited and he saw the world differently, because he knew of the past, future, demons and even Gods. Some even speculated of him being a lesser God, or an angel, while others called him a demon. People believed that he became inhuman, immortal, and didn't belong in this world anymore. He hid his body behind the fabric of the dark cloak when he was three years old, and never showed his face again. He lived in a shrine by Konoha, guarded by anbu, who were ready to protect him if anyone dared to get too close, and to slit his throat the moment he lost control over the demon inside. These anbu were the best trained shinobi of the village, and the mission of protecting the Jinchuuriki was the test for most of them. And those who guarded him for months had respect and admiration from their pears. After all, a mission like that was of high risk and importance; the level of control shinobi must possess to be near the boy was too high for inexperienced ninja, and those who knew of the rules concerning the jailor, realized the details of the job.

Orochimaru's spies have informed him of disappearance of the few anbu who were involved in that kind of mission.

They were killed.

Some of them were a threat, some were traitors. And others… as his spies claimed, _displeased_ the child.

When he became a monk, he was about four years old. It happened, when Sarutobi called for the help of the priests and monks of the Fire country, in despair. There was nothing shinobi could do for the boy. No technique existed to strengthen the seal of the Forth, and all attempts of weakening the demon and letting the child live a normal life failed. Every second of his existence he suppressed the chakra of the fox, suppressed its rage, and kept it locked inside his body, while Jiraiya looked for a way to change the seal his student, Minato, created. With appearance of the monks, the boy was introduced to religion, Gods and prayers; and learning of meditation and techniques of control the monks shared with him, he started to pray too. Then, very quickly, he gained unimaginable control over chakra of the fox, and what's more, rumors said that he also gained some abilities, that surpassed the knowledge of shinobi world. Orochimaru wouldn't bother himself with the rumors, gossips and other things he wasn't interested in, but when it concerned his plans and ambitions, he preferred to get rid of everyone who stood in his way. Now, after interfering with his plans in the sand village, this boy became his enemy, so knowing his enemy, was important. Also, it wouldn't hurt, to confirm some rumors or prove people wrong…

-"Someone would think that the great advisor of Hokage would find a better way to amuse himself, than play mind games with genin."-Stated the man, smirking at the child.

The monk stopped laughing and his fingers played with one bead, caressing it, as he tilted his head.-"Someone would think that the great snake summoner wouldn't bother himself with visiting a child in the shrine when he has more important things to do."

The man stilled his features and spoke impassively.-"You're not a child."-He lowered his head.-"Children do not play with adults, killers, politics and future treating them as toys."

The smirk formed under the hood and the man narrowed his eyes at the tapping of beads, getting annoyed at the sound. The monk shifted and the man got the impression that the boy relaxed, for some reason.

–"I don't have anything better to do."-The boy replied truthfully. The man gazed at him, skeptic with that response. He… felt rather confused at the reaction, or lack of it, from the boy at his presence. Yes, it looked like he knew he was here for some time, but it still was not a proof that he saw the future, he could be well trained in some arts of shinobi by Jiraiya. But to behave as if Orochimaru was no threat to him must mean that he did not see him as one. Was he that sure of his own abilities?

-"Nothing better to do than interfering my plans."-Voiced the man, reminding Naruto about the reason for his visit. The boy snorted and the man scowled.-"What do I do with you, child, kill you?"-He asked aloud.-"I don't like to be played with. Usually, it is me, who pulls the strings."

-"You pull the strings, I pull the threads."-In the pause, the man glanced at him confused for a moment.-"Your idea to kill the old man interferes with _my_ plans."-Reminded the boy sternly, and for a minute, they faced each other silently, thinking over the fact that both of them had prepared the complex plans for a near future, and one plan did not work with the other. The boy gripped the beads, stopping the counting and the room fell silent.

-"Also, you won't get the boy."-Said the monk threateningly and the man narrowed his eyes, releasing some of his killing intent.

-"This is not your business."-He said, glaring at the wide, black hood.

-"Shinobi of Konoha _is _my business."-Stated the monk and bits of red flames appeared on his form, lightening the space around him.-"Uchiha Sasuke may not be an important figure in my plans, but he is a ninja of that village."

The man closed his eyes, speaking dismissively.

-"I don't need the boy himself."

-"I know."-The boy replied.-"But that still does not mean you will get it."-The tapping resumed, and the red flames of chakra ceased. The man wondered why he even argued with the monk in the first place. He could kill him and be done with it, but still, the possibility that the boy knew of the future was appealing…

-"And what if he will come to me on his own free will?"-The man asked, softly smiling, satisfied with his logic and creativity. He had in his mind several ways of getting Sasuke convinced to act along his plans, and making the boy trust him and join him with the offer of power was only one of them.

-"That's not going to happen."-The monk replied.-"I can offer him more."

The man almost growled in displeasure.-"We shall see."

The child laughed quietly and the slight shiver crawled up the man's skin; for unknown reason to him, he felt discomfort and the thought of fighting the Jinchuuriki of the strongest demon wasn't tempting at all. He even wanted to leave, but, to do so 'defeated' in the verbal battle irked him. He had a feeling that whatever he says to threaten, confuse, warn or even scare the monk, won't have a desired effect, so attempting that was rather pointless.

-"I can't understand why you waste your time on this."-The boy muttered and the man looked down with a glare.-"You could have done so many things, great and important, and yet, just like many others you look down at and loathe, you run after your unreachable dream, claiming to be the _one_, worthy of achieving things like immortality, unlimited knowledge and, godlike power."

Feeling the insult wash over him like the cold water, the man deeply scowled and parted his lips in a hiss…

* * *

Konoha, early morning

With a wide smile upon his face, and the eyes sparkling with happiness, the self proclaimed green beast of Konoha walked down the path, leading to the one of numerous halls in the labyrinth of Hokage Tower. As usually, for him the day started earlier than for other shinobi, and he was warmed up after the long exercises in the fresh air of the Leaf Training Grounds. Not really surprised at his cheerfulness, the passing shinobi ignored his shiny and energetic presence, praying to miss the moment he started to lecture the Leaf Population on the details of keeping the youthfulness in one's body.

Mighto Guy was in a hurry of delivering a message to the leader of the village when he spotted the beautiful woman that had under her heel the hearts of men of the Leaf and he added the speed to his steps, to get closer to her and get her attention.

-"Kurenai-san, how wonderful to see you! How are you? How is your team of young and youthful genin?"-He asked in a too loud and too happy tone.

The woman in a strange dress of red fabric and bandages over her body turned slightly to glance at the 'one more nuisance in her morning routine of getting a new mission for her squad today' and kept the neutral expression, not willing to offend the cheerful man.-"Me and my team are fine, Mighto-san, thank you."

He stopped for a moment in the corridor and beamed, almost jumping and dancing at the fact that someone else was 'fine' too. Then he caught up with her and inquired mischievously.-"And how is my eternal rival and his team doing? I believe you and your team saw them as the last."

The woman sighed remembering the troubling escort mission her squad was involved in and unwillingly wondered how the two teams were doing, worrying over the team 10, mostly…

-"If you are interested in how high their chances are in entering the exams, then I have to disappoint you. Hatake-san and his team are not ready."

The man stopped in his tracks and pouted, letting a tear escape his left eye and shook, not expecting that turn of events. He had so many things prepared! He had the list of BETS he and his rival were going to make! And now he was all alone in exams… (Other jounin aren't counted!)

Kurenai noticed the devastated state of the man who was left behind her and thought if she should beat him harder and make the strong man cry (finally having her revenge on him for all his cheerfulness) or if she should pity him and give some hope. Not knowing if the 'sad Guy' was worse than a happy one, she decided not to take any risks.-"Don't worry too much, they still have time before the exam, so not everything's lost."

Within a second's time he was grinning again and she regretted her kind action.

She should have beaten him…

* * *

Same time, below the Tower

The strange sound of the wind in the corridors, resembling a whistling, made the man, who was hiding in the shadows, cringe. He grimaced at the picture around him and almost sneezed at the chill of the place. He did a good job of hiding himself, but he cursed himself for being stupid and getting lost in the maze of corridors without a map or leaving some hints on how to get out of here. He couldn't summon any toad, as it would be immediately noticed, so he was left to his own devices…

A normal, usual, smart and _careful_ shinobi would get inside the enemy territory at NIGHT. Of course, he never called himself normal or usual, but being careful was a _rule_. And now he was dumbly looking left and right, wondering which path will bring him luck and get him out of here. The… scenery was dark, grey and blue. Everything was made of stone and wood. The air was too humid, which meant that there was water under the levels of rooms. There were guards all over the place and he inwardly wondered if there would be more if he came at a night time. But he wouldn't anyway. He was… busy at the time. Drinking.

No, he shouldn't be judged for it! Konoha has so many beautiful ladies, why would he refuse himself to look at them? Any man will be tempted to hide behind a wooden wall and take a glance through the small hole… And then no man will regret getting beaten and land in the bar to ease the pain and ache of the body and the heart…

He got used to his routine of admiring the bathing beauties, so he wasn't in a hurry to fulfill his duties as shinobi.

And it got him to this.

He grimaced again and decided to go to the left. Glancing there, he narrowed his eyes to see if he could notice any movement. He kept his gaze there, and sure that there wasn't hiding any anbu of the quiet group of Root, he took his chance and stealthily moved away from his position…

* * *

The Shrine of Fire

Asuma widely yawned, slightly covering his mouth with a hand. He closed the door and walked out into the corridor where his students were already waiting. He left his green vest unzipped and didn't bother to wrap shuriken or kunai on his legs, in his sandals or even hide some needles on his forearms. He didn't feel like it today. He scratched his beard and placed one cigarette between his teeth. For some unknown reason, he couldn't sleep that night and it tired him, forming the bags under his eyes and making him irritated. So when his smartest student started asking him some strange displaced questions that morning, he couldn't stop himself from being grumpy.

-"Who was the strongest shinobi of Konoha… like, some four years ago?"-The boy asked casually and the jounin sighed, not in the mood to work with his brain cells. They slowly walked to the dining room and the man had the urge to slap his own face a few times to wake up properly.

-"I can't remember now, ask me later…"-He mumbled and received a stare that said 'can't you take a moment to focus on something important and _then_ get lazy?' To which the man made dissatisfied expression and almost growled. Seeing this, the blonde and… fluffy boy grinned at his annoyed attitude.

The shrine was calm and quiet that morning and they wondered if team 7 was still sleeping. Here and there some monks walked by, the light from outside entered the halls, and the mood in the air was serene. It relaxed Asuma and he lit up his precious to smoke. Before them, in the entrance to the dining room stood their fellow team and their stillness seemed awkward.

The jounin walked further and stopped in his tracks when he saw the new face from behind Kakashi's shoulder. By the table, casually and calmly, sat one of the sannin; he was leaning on that table with his elbow, and supporting his chin with the raised hand. It seemed that no one was expecting him, and Hatake was the first who spoke to the visitor. It looked like his team was standing in the doors and staring at the guest for quite a long time.

-"I hope your visit isn't hostile."-Voiced the one eyed jounin, and the snake summoner simply shrugged.

After a moment, Kakashi shrugged too, and strode to the table, where the food was already waiting. He sat one seat away from the powerful man, not too close, but not too far. His students, clearly shocked to meet the missing nin, stiffly, moved too, but stayed away from the man. Asuma, who at that point got even more annoyed and irritated with the bothersome day, nervously chewed on the end of the cigarette, hoping that he wouldn't have to fight the man, after all, all he had with him were his knives, and as good as it was, his pouch and other weapons would be helpful in a fight, and he was just stupid enough to leave all that by his futon…

The genin members of team ten blinked several times, not informed yet who was the new guest, and Ino nudged the jounin with the 'polite' -"Who's that?"

To which the smoker sighed closing his eyes.-"One of the sannin, Orochimaru; he's a missing nin."

With the new expressions, the genin looked at the man, and he just… ignored the stares, lost in his thoughts.

Asuma pushed his students to the table, and they found the seats some distance away from the man, rather confused with the calm demeanor of the jounin. Stopping before sitting down, Shikamaru raised his brows while looking at the quiet man, and then, with curiosity, he picked the bowl of rice and with only slight hesitation sat by the guest.

The other occupants of the room stared at him bewildered, and liking the impression he made, Nara inwardly smirked. Orochimaru lazily glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye and had to admit that he didn't expect that kind of behavior from any genin, let alone a kid that didn't look like a bravest one.

Shikamaru poured himself a cup of tea and started to eat. He glanced at his teacher with unreadable gaze, but then turned back to the food.

-"May I ask you a question, Orochimaru-san?"-He started, not too loud, but not whispering either.

The man tilted his head slightly and lazily looked down on the surface of the wooden table.-"It depends."

The boy nodded and picked the rice with the chopsticks.-"Just curious, do you know who was the strongest Konoha shinobi… some…four years ago?"

Hearing the question the man, as well as Kakashi, Sasuke and Asuma, frowned. Orochimaru slowly turned a bit and asked.

-"In the time of the massacre…?"

The boy chewed and turned thoughtful for a short moment, then he nodded.-"Yeah, I believe so."

The snakelike man smiled creepily and stared into space, lost in his own world.-"That would be Uchiha Itachi."-He voiced softly, and the boy glanced at his face with interest.

The man was quiet after that for some time and Shikamaru, not willing to lose his chance of getting some answers, inquired.-"Then, what can you tell about him? Did he die with the rest of the clan?"

Kakashi noticed that Sasuke, across from him, gritted his teeth, trying to still his features.

Orochimaru imperceptibly scowled, losing his strange smile, and the boy got the impression that the man _knew_ that 'Itachi' personally, at some point…

-"No, he didn't die that night, because he was the one who got rid of that clan."-Shikamaru froze hearing that. He never considered that option… Why didn't he think of the killer being from the inside of the clan? Probably because it seemed so impossible and unnatural, even insane, for a man to kill his own, whole family…

-"About Itachi himself…hmmm…. prideful, precise, _perfect_… that's how I would describe that child."-The man added, and unable to take this anymore, Sasuke sharply stood up and left the room, not willing to hear anything about his family murderer, who, as history decided, was his own brother… Other ninja watched him go with sympathy, and most of them graced Shikamaru with accusing gaze for the topic he chose. He shrugged somewhat, and turned to the man again.

-"So, how he could do that? Was he truly that strong to slaughter the whole clan alone? He must have had some special abilities…"-The boy asked with the frown.

Orochimaru looked at him with a glint in his eye.-"I love the young generation for their willingness to learn. The children's curiosity has no bounds…"-He said and a moment later calmly turned away, staying quiet and that showed that he did not plan to reveal things he knew of, and after a minute or two of complete silence, Shikamaru made a disappointed face and soundly sighed, inwardly cursing adults and their habit of having unnecessary secrets.

* * *

Asuma gathered the genin in the awkward silence and took them for the training, leaving Kakashi to deal with the guest, and the one eyed jounin wasn't hasty in starting any conversation or, God forbid, interrogation. He observed Orochimaru and asked himself if this man was the one Naruto was waiting for in the Shrine of Fire, or if it had to be someone else. He did not receive any instructions concerning the man, so he had to make sure his actions went along Naruto's wishes. The snake summoner graced him with a faint glance and as much as Hatake wanted to convince himself that he had no right to lower his guard, he did so, feeling that there will be no fight in the near future. Naruto must have troubled the man with some revelations, and he wasn't in the mood to participate in any battles right now, rather, he wanted the time and silence and sort out his thoughts…

If it was any other day, Orochimaru would be annoyed with the brats and the bald monks around him, but he was consumed by his musings so much, that he had a surprising ability to ignore everyone and everything. He even had a feeling that they noticed it and in turn, decided not to bother him at all. It was nice of them to do so. _"…you're not that different or special; you won't even live longer than Jiraiya."_ He remembered. The words like echo traveled through his insides, making him feel oddly empty. It seemed so unrealistic, to him. Here he was running after immortality, obsessed with gaining an eternity for collecting the knowledge that he wanted so badly, and some monk that presumably knows the future states, that his time is quite short… How would anyone react to this? Negatively, of course.

Why should he believe this…He managed to create a technique that let him transfer his soul from one body to the other, and he was certain that with some time he would find a way to make one's body young forever, stopping its growth, aging process and with that healing any illness and disposing of any weaknesses. Why there would be any chance of him failing in his plans? He got so far… He prepared himself for anything that could stop him, he thought of any possible obstacle on his way and it was the first time he had to stop and think. He… knew he could spit on this foolishness and continue with everything he planned, forgetting things related to that child and this shrine, but then if what was said becomes reality, in the end he will regret not considering other options. He was just that kind of man, thinking before acting. He had a lot to thank that trait of his character for. Though, he had to admit, that he has never expected to face a situation where his future was concerned to a point where he had it or _didn't_ have it.

But then, if he changes his plans and defies himself, then where's a guarantee, that he made a right choice? Where's a proof of things this child says? Has he foreseen other events that were prevented from happening with his advice? The people this child was in contact with were people with power, authority and influence, Hokage, clan heads, Daimyo and some special guests this boy gave invitation to; but Orochimaru didn't have any details of these meetings, nor had he any knowledge of the nature of these contacts, making him all the more unsure of decision he had to make, or, was _given_ a chance to make. He couldn't refer to an example to have at least a _hint_ on the fact that the boy said the truth… And still _not_ _listening_ to it would be a stupid thing to do, so he was lost at the moment…

Kakashi noticed the troubled look the man sported and had the urge to smirk. Naruto has proved once again that he could brainwash the strongest of minds, and Orochimaru didn't even notice that his thought process was under influence.

The jounin tilted his head and blinked, paying a bit more attention to the man's looks.

That outfit was ridiculous.

Who wears _that_…? A… _rope_ for a sash? He sure didn't have a proper fashion taste.

One more reason to be wary of the man…

The guest turned and glared at the jounin, annoyed with his persistent presence.-"Will you keep on staring?"

The jounin raised a brow and tilted his head to the other side. He spoke after the pause.-"You would prefer that I do that from a distance, hiding?"

The man was still for a second, and then sighed with the lowering of his head, in a tired manner.

* * *

Konoha, somewhere below the village

In the silence and the darkness of the never ending corridors, the white haired man pouted and his hands fell, when he lost all hope of getting out of the labyrinth he got himself into.

He was tired, lost and he started to think of the option of making a hole in those walls with the loud explosion, to make his way out. If he only knew which direction he had to take…

The shiver went up his spine when he felt someone's presence behind him and he cursed his luck in getting in trouble without any real effort.

He heard someone's breath and kept standing still, not wanting to make the person act if he attempts doing any sharp moves.

His stillness worked, it seems, and the ninja who found him was quiet and contemplative, and didn't attack him. Jiraiya learned of this tactic observing the wild animals and their instincts, they always attacked the prey that made a lot of noise and running, feeling its fear; and they were wary of anything that wasn't afraid of predator, making them reconsider attacking someone who could turn out to be stronger. That didn't always work, but he didn't have much of a choice now, because he had no idea where to run, and making any sound would only call for other shinobi, which in turn would make his escape impossible.

-"Jiraiya-sama, no need to be so tense, I hope I did not scare you?"

He heard a quiet tone and gulped, getting rather an impression that this shinobi mocked him. He grimaced a bit and slowly turned around, coming face to face with the armored anbu.

A ninja stared back at him through the holes of the mask he wore, and Jiraiya noticed it was a 'cat'. It was hard to tell what color it had, in the gloom, but he could see the shape of it and it wasn't as scary as it should have been, in his opinion. This anbu looked like a nice and friendly person, with that kind of face.

Suddenly, shinobi raised his hand and easily untied and took off the mask, letting Jiraiya see the brown hairs, dark brown eyes, hard features, and tanned skin. Hasn't he seen this man before?

-"Naruto-kun warned me that you may end up getting lost in this place and I am sorry for not coming to look for you earlier."

-"Oh."-Was the hermit's intelligent reply and he immediately remembered who was before him. There were only two people who dared to call his student that way and this was one of Naruto's guards, Tenzou, a friend of Kakashi and one of those few who loved the child.

-"Follow me; I'll show you around and take you to what you're looking for."-The man said and immediately moved, making Jiraiya sigh and follow hastily.

* * *

The shrine of Fire

-"Just like that, Choji!"-Asuma shouted, seeing the progress his student made on the surface of the water. The boy softly smiled and the jounin puffed the cigarette, narrowing his eyes at the laughing girls, who almost finished learning the exercise. Sakura taught Ino about the details of staying above the surface, and he inwardly nodded at the progress his blonde student made in getting closer to the girl. It looked like they will be very good friends again soon, and that will give a perfect ground for the mission to take place.

He noticed the slight glance Sai gave Choji before turning back to his art work. The boy seemed interested and involved on some level, and it was a good sign, because something told him that getting the information on this genin would be very hard thing to do, but he felt that there were high chances of his students doing it.

He narrowed his eyes even more, looking at his smartest student and remembering the gaze Shikamaru gave him before speaking to the missing nin; it appears, the point was, he wanted to take advantage of the situation and not only find out more about the massacre of the Uchiha clan, but also get the reaction from Sasuke, and direct this reaction on himself, to have a reason to form some sort of a contact with the boy. That was risky, but without a doubt effective.

-"Come on, Shikamaru, Sasuke, I want you to spar a bit, be careful and try to _not _think of controlling the chakra on your feet while you fight."

The boys nodded and strode to the center of the pond, stopping directly in front of each other. Serious expressions were hiding their emotions, as they stared at each other with something akin to disliking.

The sky was covered with grey clouds, not letting any light break through the thickness of the rain source. Because of that, the place they trained on was gloomy and it felt like the storm hasn't left them yet.

While the surroundings were full of life, laugh and sounds of splashing water, between the two genin formed a complete silence, and the time seemed to stop, when the black eyes turned red and glared at the opponent.

* * *

**A.N.** And here it is! New chapter's done!

Some of you may have noticed that I changed the summary for this story (most of you probably sigh with a -_"Finally."_) and here I agree))) Took me long to get to it...

So, I think the story has some progress, isn't it? I finally (I use that word again...?) got to dramatic relationship between Shikamaru and Sasuke! We'll see how this turns out))))


	11. Chapter 11

**A. N.** My deepest apologies for the long update, but you see, each time I wrote a chapter, Jiraya snatched it away and made perverted corrections that I had to correct time after time again...

-"Speech."-

_Emphasis on the word or flashback_

Chapter 11 of sinners and saints in grey

The splash of water let the drops fall in a circle, and each of them created ripples, making the reflections on the surface deform. The foot covered with sandal hit the uncovered calve and the figure turned, barely managing to stay on the water. The frown graced the face of the brown eyed genin and disappointed with his maneuver he continued to observe every move his opponent made, keeping his focus on his legs and hands. It was easier, since his was still in the crouch two meters away, and he supported himself with his hands, making sure that he didn't fall. He knew that if he looked higher he would see the red spinning eyes, and one gaze would be enough to put him under illusion. The quick move of his opponent's right hand alerted him and he rushed to the side, noticing the sharp edged weapon disappear under the surface behind.

Kunai in hand, black haired boy charged forward, using all his strength to stab the enemy in the arm, neck or shoulder. Yes, enemy, his fellow Konoha nin was no longer a comrade. Here and right now, he saw him as foreigner, who came to know and see things for too soon, and too close. The hastily raised hand stopped his advance and he raised his knee, hitting the unprotected stomach.

They were so close, and it was getting harder not to look up. He knew what was there; hatred, fear and pain. Advance from below… He took it, gritting his teeth, and his other hand rose blindly, to hit his opponent's neck.

Sasuke made a step back to breathe in and rub the bruised flesh. He could have avoided a hit, he saw it, he predicted it, but it was too close and too quick to react in time, and all of it seemed like a trap now; as if Nara let him get this close only to surprise him with prepared attack. He kept avoiding his eyes, not taking any risk in being caught even in the smallest of genjutsu. It was… irritating. From the corner of his eye he saw the shadow tentacle getting closer to him, so with a smirk he jumped to the left and further, preventing the technique from getting any way near him. With one glance at the Nara, he noticed the drop of sweat sliding down his brow, and it had to be an explanation of his unusual usage of shadow technique, since it was the first time he used it without hand seals. The level of concentration it took had to weaken him, but still, Sasuke wasn't stupid enough to think that it wasn't some kind of bait. With someone so smart, you never know what to believe. Sharingan might show him what move would be next, but it could never show what was behind it, or what plan was put in motion with each step Nara made. Showing him weakness and opening could be a well planned move to surprise him with unpredictable behavior.

Kunai flew. He attacked?

One, three, two… Shikamaru didn't have perfect precision, but it wouldn't matter anyway. Sasuke easily stepped out of the way almost raising a brow at projectiles, asking himself why the guy would throw weapons he knew he could easily avoid. The answer came without further thinking, he wanted him to change position, wanted to lure him into a trap again or just make sure he was closer for attack. Inwardly laughing at the tactic the raven haired genin moved even further away from his opponent and continued to dodge with fluid moves. Two, four, five… It wasn't even funny, maybe it's time he took his turn in attacking again? Seven… Yes he should…

He noticed that one of knives had a piece of paper attached to a handle, but a second of surprise cost him more than he predicted, and the blast threw him into the tree line. The tag exploded in the air, did he detonate it manually, before it hit?

Standing on the shore with a scowl, Asuma puffed his cigarette, not knowing if he should feel proud or ashamed. On one side, he could admit that his student stood on one ground with Uchiha and it was no small feat, but on the other side, morally, he stood with Uchiha on the same ground still, not making him look any better than the short tempered avenger. For God's sake, it was a spar, and risking your comrade's life while training was nothing to be proud of!

With a frown Shikamaru observed as out from between the trees walked at least ten Sasuke and all of them moved in a different way to a different position. Their tactic seemed to make him feel surrounded, and realizing that behind it was more than that, he hastily formed a hand seal.

-"Kai."

Left was only one, but he already finished the hand seals, and with the widened eyes Nara saw as from between his fingers by mouth the flames spread from a stream, and it charged at him with power and heat he couldn't imagine…

Asuma had widened eyes and for a moment was frozen, unable to comprehend how fast the battle was going. He bit his lower lip, asking himself if he should step in right now or if he should trust his student and let them continue. He only hoped that Shikamaru would give him a sign, a hint as to what he planned…

Sasuke deactivated his jutsu and narrowed his eyes, observing the dying fire. It formed a steam above the surface and when it started to clear, he saw no trace of his opponent. Narrowing his eyes even more, he glanced left and right, expecting him to come out of hiding, but the slight shifting in front of him caught his attention and he looked back, to see as from underneath the water, Shikamaru emerged with a gasp. He let his hands support him and looked up with ragged breathes.

The black clad genin stared down at him for a long minute, while Shikamaru regained his strength, and then, as if nothing happened, 'hn'ed with a small smirk on his lips.

Shikamaru did not regret avoiding attack under water, but the smirk from Sasuke confused him. Not letting it get to him though, he formed his hand sign again, and watched Sasuke jump and run away from the shadow technique with satisfaction displayed on his features. His gaze followed Uchiha up to the tree line on the bank and he hastily moved there, soaking and panting, but with rare, stubborn determination. And just before he disappeared in the row of trees, he sent a look to his teacher, which second later was answered with imperceptible nod.

Sasuke glanced back with controlled anger and confirmed that his opponent was still there, willing to fight. His fingers twitched and moved around the invisible wire and it brought an evil sneer to his lips.

* * *

-"Huh, shouldn't we follow them? You know, to make sure they don't kill each other, sensei?"-Asked Choji, concerned for his teammate's well being. Other genin looked up too, waiting for Asuma's answer. He dropped his cigarette as the thunder shook the sky and started to leave with worry in his eyes.

-"Stay here and continue the exercise, I'll have everything under control."

They nodded and watched him enter the forest.

* * *

When his feet touched the first upper branch he knew that simply running into the trap would be stupid. The last bit of expression he saw on Sasuke's face meant lots of thinking. That smirk that was openly displayed was a promise of planned and prepared moves. From what he gathered so far, he could expect projectiles, fire techniques, wires and explosives, some genjutsu tricks and of course taijutsu. His chance of completing the invasive mission had to be used and despite not liking playing with people's emotions, he had to anger Uchiha, push him over the edge to a point where he will slip and give some information, where he will open up to a contact and be easy to push further in the right direction.

The shadow user continued to think over his chances while not moving from his position. There was no point in using bunshin, because that damned doujutsu will let Sasuke see through. Fighting using weapons? He wasn't as good as him. Try to catch him with kage mane no jutsu again? Could he think of anything new in that field that would surprise Uchiha? What else was there? Verbal battle? That could work, though Uchiha are rarely talkative. Now, that was close to a joke, completely displaced too… Shikamaru started to berate himself for letting his line of thoughts lose the right direction.

* * *

His hands were itching to get the cigarette, to place it in between his lips, light it and slowly inhale, feel the warmth of the smoke fill his lungs and then…. The day was so annoying! First the restless night, then snake-filled morning, then Shikamaru and his annoying ideas! He could swear he missed his student's laziness already. Should he help him here, interfere? If all he was going to do was stand and watch, then surely he couldn't smoke, he couldn't get noticed. But then again, with all signs of a coming storm, it had no point.

Leaves of the trees scratched his face and he sharply stopped on the branch, realizing that he was running up in the trees all this time. He shook his head slightly and rubbed his forehead. What was he supposed to do? The sound of the fight getting closer alarmed him and he willed his body to become still, almost blending with the shadow of the tree which he was hidden in. Time seemed to stop when he saw his student trip in an attempt to dodge shuriken and fall down from the large, now covered in black and sharp weapons branch. Fall right into the trap of wires that formed a web. Those wires were going through the rings of kunai handles, kunai embedded in the trees around. He almost rushed to his aid when he saw the boy grimace and reach for kunai in his flight. Shikamaru quickly severed the web, activating two exploding tags in process, which was followed by the blast.

Through the smoke, he fell down and landed on the ground in the crouch. The brown eyed genin hissed at the pain and stinging of his skin, furrowing his brows. His clothing was torn, almost in pieces, and numerous scratches were nasty and deep at the glance. His back and forearm were covered in burns, but thankfully these were not serious. His narrowed eyes looked up when his opponent jumped down, stopping in front of him. His gaze though, stopped at his feet, just to make sure he wasn't pulled into a more vicious, dangerous trap.

-"I thought we were supposed to spar on water, not go into an all out battle."-Nara started, deciding that it was a right moment to move onto intelligent fighting.-"What got you so angered?"-He asked seriously, not mocking Sasuke, nor making it sound too casual.

-"As if you don't know."-The raven haired genin replied gritting his teeth. His right hand played with kunai he prepared for close fighting. –"What do you want, what got you to poke your head in someone else's business?"-He asked in a hiss, glaring deadly.

Shikamaru smirked, taking his turn in small taunting. He waved with his hand carelessly,-"Tch, just curious."

-"Curious?"-Sharingan wielder asked, growling with rage.

-"I remember him. Your older brother."

At this the scene fell quiet.

Asuma observed them holding his breath, waiting for a moment to step in, knowing that it could not go on like this forever. In the sky, the thunder roared again, it seemed that even branches shook, and leaves were ready for a heavy rain; dark ominous clouds grew larger and thicker and the forest seemed even deeper.

-"How strange… He killed dozens of people, young and old, innocent and not, and yet, you're the one who was spared. Is it because you are brothers, or there was more to your, so called survival?"

-"What are you implying."-Sasuke asked in a forced steady voice.

-"Shinobi of his caliber aren't making mistakes."

-"Shut up!"

Nara cocked his head and raised his brow. Suddenly Sasuke hit the tree with his fist. His eyes danced madly not seeing the world around, but some flashes of memories he tried to keep buried. His fist hit the bark of the tree again, no doubt injuring his hand in the process.

-"He only wants to test his power!"

-"Against you?"-Shikamaru asked incredulously. Red spinning eyes turned to him and the number of emotions in them left the shadow user puzzled. –"There must be more to it than that."-Nara added quietly.

Sasuke averted his gaze. He asked himself the same questions again and again, trying to see the hidden meaning of things. His brother couldn't have thought that Sasuke would be strong enough one day to be a challenge. Even with all the training, hatred and determination, nothing could be enough to close the gap between them, then why? For his own… amusement? His brother has never found anything amusing in killing, following orders or being around family. But there had to be more to it, and he knew it, even though he would never admit such a thing. That monk, their client, even he was involved, but how, he had no idea. He was getting sick of all the secrets… And now that fellow genin was intruding in his matters, he felt the pressure that was always there increase.

-"What the hell do you want? Why do you even care?"-He asked, for some reason feeling heavy. All confusion and anger left him tired of playing games.

-"I don't really care."-Nara replied, shaking his head and standing up,-"I want to be stronger, and was just curious to know who managed to wipe out one of the most powerful clans in our village."

Sasuke made no sound and took a threatening step forward, raising the blade just as Asuma appeared in between them, stopping the raven's advance. They were not startled by his entrance, making him think for a moment that they might have known he was there for some time. He took a fast look at his student, noting that he wasn't injured as badly as he suspected, and addressed them with a stern expression.

-"Spar on the water is a spar on the water. Not a game in hide and seek with your teacher. If you planned to be more serious about it, you should have told me first."-He notified, making sure Shikamaru caught a hidden message. –"Now, take a short rest, the training isn't over yet."

* * *

The gloved hand pulled down a brown fabric of the collar to uncover the neck and shoulder. The skin was pale; the veins were dark and too exposed. The smell coming from the body was no pleasant either, and conclusion Kakashi came to wasn't surprising.

-"They were poisoned."-He spoke, covering the corpse on the ground with white, stained sheet. He rose up from his knee and glanced over his shoulder at the priest. The man was stoic and emotionless on the surface, but his pained gaze and uneven breathing betrayed his inner turmoil. They were outside of the shrine, not wanting for the rest of residents to know what happened that night. Two meters away from the bodies were holes in the ground, prepared for the burying. For someone else the situation would be shocking, but Kakashi was already used to it. He himself wasn't particularly surprised that happened, no, he would rather be worried if something like this did _not_ happen. –"That's undoubtedly the work of…"

-"I am not stupid, Hatake-san, I know who did this, and believe me, that's not why I am… disturbed."

The grey haired jounin nodded in understanding and with his eye closed, placed his hands in pockets of his pants.

-"I… I can't understand why Naruto-sama would let this… man, not only… commit this crime, but… let this man… enter the shrine, stay here, s… speak to him even. I am… not here to judge. But… you must understand how I feel."

-"I do."-The jounin answered shortly and without further ado, started to walk away. The priest watched him go with painful expression, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips when the form of the jounin disappeared. What was he supposed to do? Accuse the monk of being… unjust? Cruel? That child wouldn't bother with explaining his actions, and he thought only of the results, and wasn't interested in lives of people surrounding him, no matter who they were. If they interested him, then they were alive, and if not, he didn't care if they died. Speaking to him, changing his point of view had no sense, since he changed people himself, and was quite experienced. The only thing left for Chiriku to do was to learn to live with this knowledge…

* * *

He glanced behind, and then to the sides. He concentrated on hearing and only after making sure that he was alone, he reached for his inner pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses. With a slight scowl he put them on and frowned while looking down at the pile of scrolls and papers. The room was dark, and it was small. One table and chair were for one person controlling the ins and outs of coming documents. This room was connected to the other, bigger and wider one, which he would call archive. Shelves of secrets and reports brought a shiver and he forced himself to read. One candle did not light his mood, nor had it lit the space, but he couldn't bring himself to complain.

With each line his heart was beating slower. _Report nr 46, 307 Target eliminated; the findings are in accordance with information accessed by 9 t. Jailor. Casualties: 2 operatives. Mission completed… _

_Report nr 78, 50/3 Councilor nr 4, placed under permanent surveillance; orders to prove interference with mission nr971, 22c Iwa; confirmed; target poisoned; 1 day delay; mission completed…_

He scratched his white brow and glanced at the closed door. Behind it was Tenzo, who waited for him to finish gathering valuable info, but never in his wildest dreams would he think that Naruto worked with Danzo and Root. Though… on second thought, it wasn't so surprising, rather, he should have known. The boy used anything he deemed useful, and from his… wide perspective, Root definitely was.

…_Day 19, Hatake K., jounin; observed on specific orders; has suspicious of mission in Tea country nr 65 0, 12; loyalty unconfirmed; further orders: elimination in case of personal treason…._

…_report nr 559/67; observation of the main guarding Hokage group; four jounin level anbu under previous captain of assignation squad; no flows found; treason unconfirmed; further orders: keep under surveillance…_

…_prisoner nr 318; imprisoned under Hokage orders; crimes: the planned –not carried-assault on two shinobi councilmen and Hokage subordinates; further orders: release, preparation for the trial in accusing the leader of the village of overstepping the borders and going against the law; …_

Jiraiya grimaced. He found it. Now, he only had to take it with him and present the papers to sensei. But that was still not enough to avoid the main reason of the scandal. He still could not prove that decision made by Hokage, Naruto and even Danzo was the right one. And as much as he would be happy to show everyone that Danzo is wrong here too, he could not let councilors judge the old man. He had to think of the way to make them believe that every decision signed by sensei was right. But how? He couldn't tell people that jailor of the fox could see future. Even if he did, no man would believe him.

No man would believe him… if they had nothing to gain out of it…

It was time to think like a good businessman he was.

With that Jiraiya took what he thought of as necessary and quietly turned o the door…

* * *

After walking for two minutes away from the 'sparring' scene with both students in tow, Asuma was surprised to hear the sounds of fighting. Granted, it was blending with the sound of the coming storm, but he could decipher the sounds of clashing steel without any doubt. It took him less than a second to react and dash in that direction, leaving Sasuke and Shikamaru to tiredly run after him.

* * *

She felt ashamed. One hit, or more like a slap, was enough to knock her off her feet and make her land on the ground with a thud. Her bloody face ached at the harsh treatment and her head was rapidly spinning, nausea hit her with full force when she tried to rise. She heard a yell and bleary noticed Choji turn into a huge destructive ball. In that form, he pushed two of attackers and they flew away with few bones breaking in their flight. She would gape at that with awe if it wasn't for her swelling eye and the piercing scream behind her. She turned slowly, hoping that she will regain enough strength to lift herself off the ground, only to see that creepy guy, a member of team 7, Sai with a sword going through his gut. The scream was given by Sakura, who stood just beside him, visibly shaken. That slash was meant to kill her, and he took that on himself stoically, not making any sound.

Ino blinked two times and her vision cleared, she supported herself with her elbows and stood up with a grimace, at that moment, lighting hit the ground and the attacker shrugged off the confusion that formed with a strange boy's behavior. Sai readied his own blade but he didn't have to finish what he started because that man stopped altogether.

* * *

Her body was stiff from the shock and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. That bastard just saved her life. She could've expected him to protect her, taunt her or stand by and watch, but never would she imagine that he'd jump on the blade in her place. It was just a second, a moment in which her fate would be decided and he just silently did that. The attacker stopped and her emerald, teary widened eyes looked to the side, to see her friend lying on the ground unconscious, while the man in front of them muttered

-"Bastard."-in a manner Ino would use.

Harsh winds blew on them and with a horrific thunder it started raining.

With quick and sharp reaction, Sakura grabbed the hand of the man Ino took control over. She too looked down, not really knowing what to do with the sword that was still in Sai's stomach. Kunoichi exchanged glances for a full minute and then their hands, holding the handle, silently count to three, while their still standing comrade watched the happenings with new emotions on his usually stoic face. It was curiosity, apprehension and a mix of excitement and gratitude.

Blood splayed on them mixing with raindrops and they felt their knees tremble in worry. Sai almost stumbled, but managed to stay on his feet and carefully kneeled. Sakura quickly made hand signs and firmly placed her glowing hand to his wound, forcing herself to ignore the amount of red liquid that covered his pale skin. She was surprised that her teammate behaved so bravely in these situations.

A sound of steps and swoosh second later, Ino was staring into brown eyes of her teacher.

-"Wait!"-Screamed her chubby teammate.

Only then, in that moment, that seemed to be longer than a minute, she noticed in Asuma's eyes her own reflection. A man in a dirty, grey patched coat, dark brown sweater, black pants and black boots. Her face was scarred, bearded and wet. She was looking at the mercenary she was inside of and it shocked her to see her teacher's glowing knife coming closer to her neck, the neck that belonged to the body she possessed.

-"It's Ino!"-Choji was shouting, running in their direction; he panted after using so much energy. There was a splash near the tree line and Ino held her breath as the tip of the knife reached her and the first drop of blood slid on the edge…

And then everything seemed to freeze. Time stopped and fear held her in its grasp. Instead of running, dodging or screaming all she could do was to stare. It was coincidence; it was unplanned, so how could Asuma know it was her? For a fleeting moment she thought she felt the death itself stand behind her and in her frozen state no rational thought crossed her mind as she waited for the inevitable…

It just never came.

After what felt like eternity, her shimmering eyes noticed sensei's widened ones, and slowly turning her gaze away, she noticed her body lying on the ground, with Shikamaru crouching by it with his hands in a sign. He didn't look to be in a good shape, and she wondered if it was the result of his fight with Sasuke; surprisingly, that thought made her feel slightly angry with her crush.

Through the glistering rain, the genin stood up and wordlessly made a step back. The body of his teacher followed his movements.

Silently, everyone sighed, releasing the breath they were holding, even Sasuke, who never thought of this kind of situation ever taking place. Gulping, with shaking hands, Ino dispelled her technique and her real body stirred. Her chubby teammate and Sakura simultaneously moved with a yell and Choji punched the man in his head, while Sakura delivered a vengeful kick in his ribs. Mercenary fell with a small splash and the scene became quiet. Sai rose and looked around. They stopped the attack but he was more than sure it was some sort of distraction.

-"Ino, stay with Sai, rest of you come with me, the shrine must be under attack."-Genin nodded and ran after him; Choji took a soldier pill and gave one to his teammate and to Sakura and Sasuke. He was surprised Asuma let the girl come with them instead of Ino, but realized she wasn't as exhausted. He remembered that Kakashi-sensei was there so those bandits didn't have much chance, unless some ninja were among them. Suddenly, he remembered that a strange, missing nin was there too…

* * *

Candle lights flickered and the sounds of rushing steps from outside gathered his attention. The hooded head tilted as crimson flames covered the black cloak and danced to unknown tune. The hall was empty, and even with all light around, seemed grim and ominous, maybe, it had something to do with aura that surrounded the occupant.

"**Why don't you kill him…"**

The hooded head turned to the other side.

"**Snake… Foxes always devour snakes…"**

The sound of tapping was barely noticeable, as the thunder reigned outside.

"**He would only be a **_**hindrance**_** to your plans… Destroy him… everyone who stands in your way…"**

"…You're quite talkative today, demon."-The monk responded thoughtfully. He lowered his head as if it was under pressure and made an intake of breath. The grin broke out in the shadows of fabric covering his face. "…I rather think that he'll be… _useful_."

The beast growled and the tension from chakra flames intensified.

* * *

They kept on coming. He didn't mind. He was bored. But he felt uncomfortable; fighting in the rain wasn't his favorite way of spending free time. They weren't even ninja. Some of them used to be samurai, judging by their skill with katana, but others were your everyday bandits, money hungry and weak. At some point he felt pity for them but that quickly disappeared when after solid punch they started to behave like animals. He gave them lessons on taijutsu and that was enough to show them how out of league they were, but there were so many of them, that he couldn't find a time to count the numbers. His clothes soaked and his vest became especially heavy, he only wondered when Asuma will appear to join him and have fun.

The doors of main entrance to the shrine creaked but it went unnoticed in the chaos, orange wearing, bald monks moved out to help Kakashi and seeing that, few of stupid and weak men retreated, leaving more determined behind Kakashi almost rolled his eye at the scene. He thought if he should just use some jutsu, strong enough to get rid of the nuisance and decided that it would be better if he did, because even though he was a jounin and a lot stronger, his students were too weak to handle mercenaries after training.

Hearing a familiar hiss he glanced behind to see Orochimaru, who followed the monks outside, dragging a body of a dead man who managed to sneak past him inside, and, as it seemed, right into the waiting fangs of the snake. On the pale face was a scowl.

-"Just when I need some _peace_ and _quiet _to think over matters concerning my plans, some trash dares to interrupt me."-He spoke menacingly and Kakashi felt anger coming off of one of the sannin, and coupled with rage and screams of attackers, it suddenly made him realize that it was a bad thing.

And he was right, when he felt anger even more sinister.

Those bandits did not attack Orochimaru, consciously or unconsciously knowing that it was a suicide. They were intimidated by him mostly, and in that state were easier to deal with by genin, who hastily made their way onto the scene with the fireball technique announcing their presence. But their appearance only made Kakashi sweat, when cloak wearing monk crossed the entrance with aura of finality. The raindrops were falling on his form and created the steam when they touched the red flames of chakra. Kakashi knew that all negative emotions had an effect on Naruto and it scared him to imagine what he could do if his power was not controlled. The monk slowly descended the steps, as shinobi and mercenaries exchanged blows and jutsus.

Orochimaru was disgusted by the scene. All those fools were pathetic, he was wasting his time watching it and only satisfaction he could get was watching Sasuke fight. Unfortunately his little future project did not stand out among other genin, being just as slow, weak and… kind. He did not kill his opponents. That was weakness. _"You're like a little child, that can't stand a fact that it was denied something. You are blind, running after a petty revenge not daring to glance behind, at your own subordinates, who do not serve you because you're generous, just, or magnificent, rather, because you're cruel, twisted and they fear you." _The words ringed in his mind with echo, and the man fighting stopped abruptly, when that monk stepped on the ground. His presence was so terrifying that a pale man himself wanted to leave, feeling slight trembling in his limbs.

Kakashi hoped that Asuma's friend would help calm Naruto and take him back inside the walls of the shrine, but the bald man was frozen. Using force in that kind of situation would be foolish so Hatake discarded the idea of taking his charge using shunshin away. He decided to use the gentle approach.

-"N.. Naruto-sama, please go back inside. We w.. will take care of it."

The figure seemed not to hear him but a moment later he heard a reply. The voice was deep and ominous, sending shivers down everyone's spines.

-"**Are you sure**?"

Fearfully, the one eyed jounin nodded. He didn't want bloodshed and he certainly was not ready to learn how to fight jinchuuriki. Suddenly there was a small splash when a genin fell before the monk on one knee. His earrings shone in the rain, and his wet, dark brown hair messily stuck to his face and neck.

-"Don't bother yourself with these weaklings, Naruto-sama. Their level is below your attention, we will deal with them."-He said with conviction, placing flattery and offence in one sentence, not leaving any room for argument.

The monk seemed to think of his words, and next he let his hand rest on the boy's head, while on his hidden face appeared a smirk. He gently ruffled strands of hairs. Other young shinobi cringed at the sight of elongated black nails, and would have made a step back if it wasn't for heavy air suffocating them.

Slowly, the black clad figure stepped away, leaving back to the main entrance, while a boy he left with his touch started to shake.

He bit his lower lip, trying to control an unknown feeling, but it was so foreign that there was nothing he could do. He didn't notice, but his nails lengthened too and his eyes became slated. On impulse, without realizing what was happening, he rushed the moment he noticed a slight movement in the crowd of attackers. His hand gripped kunai and the first victim had it in the neck. The next, had it through the lung, and the shouting behind him was only confusing the boy.

The jounin grabbed Shikamaru before he hurt anyone else, but holding him proved to be difficult. In mere seconds the fighting restarted and attackers were defeated by present ninja with techniques and projectiles, although in the end, Nara heir managed to kill two more men before he was stopped and lost consciousness because of exhaustion and demonic influence.

Asuma walked across the mud to genin who was lying on the ground. He knew that he needed some medical attention, but he had to make sure that he wasn't a threat any longer. Asuma was looking at his student warily, observing his irregular breathing pattern. The changes were animalistic but they were disappearing quickly, revealing his true usual features. His wasn't surprised to see the effect of tainted chakra, but it was still strange, to see it for the first time and especially on his most composed and collected student…

End of chapter 11

**A. N. **Another chapter done, thank you for reading and tell me what you think. By the way, I am looking for a BETA reader(I know the grammar sucks!) ! I am new to this thing so advices are appreciated!!!


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